Soulbound to Sunshine
by Of Chaos and Destruction
Summary: What if Nara Shikako, from Silver Queen's Epic 'Dreaming of Sunshine' came from a world with soulmarks?
1. Chapter 1 Prologue and Academy

Chapter 1: Prologue and Academy

* * *

This work is inspired by Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen, and makes literally no sense if you have not read that first. Also responsible for this mess is: MathIsMagic with some additional helpful input also coming in from: donahermurphy. I've called this Reverse!Soulmark!DOS, which means that the world Shikako was born in had soul marks, wereas the current world does not.

In this fic I will mostly be using Ashen Author 's Guide to Polychromatic Soul Marks chart, which can be found here: topic/180237/149681642/1/Soulmark-Fic-and-Discussion. The 'mostly' is because in my headcannon, the death of a soulmark leaves behind a Scar that will never fade; and the death of the individual turns every active soulmark on their body slate grey; and the Colour Purple has implications of longing.

The first two (and a bit of the 3rd) chapters were originally posted on pages 1,2 and 6 of the forum linked above, with some additional commentary.

* * *

Vita mutatur, non tollitur - Life is changed, not taken away

* * *

It took a while to notice the difference.

Not the 'walk on water, spit fire, independently moving shadows' difference, _that one_ she noticed pretty quickly; hard not to really, with the fire-ants of chakra marching under her skin.

It's actually the almost-painful-but-not-quite hyperawareness of chakra that distracts her from the , that and the nightmare-flashbacks of Kyuubi chakra.

But she still knows something is wrong, missing. Some deep yearning left unfulfilled.

She's been resident of this strange new world months when she realises just _what it is_ that's gone.

She knows her own name now: Nara Shikako (that other name she used to have is a distant memory by now, and she remembers it mostly in the context of it emblazoned on the skin of loved ones).

At first it's _crushing_ to see the absence of her name on her mother's exposed arms at bath-time. It's a well-documented fact that 78% of all soulmarks are positioned on the hands or arms. Shikako tells herself that the placement is just unusual.

Except that's not it.

Shikako's new mother has no marks anywhere on her body; also parents have no shame in changing in front of their infant children. Which does make sense, under normal circumstances, but really – _so awkward_.

Dad didn't have any either.

Children didn't tend to get soulmarks until the age of 3 at the earliest, hypothetically due to the immature nature of their mind and emotional state. A fact that did nothing to alleviate the horror Shikako felt at the acres of chubby, unmarked pale skin that currently housed her misplaced soul.

She tried again and again to reach out: to consciously will those bonds into place. Unfortunately _that's not how soulmarks work_ , and every attempt left her raw and bruised in some very real intangible way.

That had been the hardest time, those next months. It isolated her more than an inability to speak or understand, made her feel more powerless than being trapped in a new-borns skin, and it frightened her more than the Kyuubi's demonic chakra (or at least it terrified her in a different way).

Shikako was, in turns, listless and morose, or running herself ragged, mentally and physically.

Sometimes she was unable to engage with her environment, and tempted to let the thick sludge in the air suffocate her. Or stop eating.

Did she even still _have a sou_ l?

Was she even a real person without marks? **Without a soul?**

What does death even **mean** in that case?

The rest of the time she exhausted herself, pushing and pulling with the foreign heat in her blood, and thinking. Occasionally, about the matter at hand: why no soulmarks? How? With her newly acquired superior hardware, Shikako turned over in her mind every fact, theory, and supposition she'd ever heard in her last life.

The rest of the time she thought about everything and anything else to distract herself.

It made sense, she rationalised away eventually. In this brutal world of child soldiers and Warrior-Kings, a soulmark would be a liability; a bullseye.

Here everyone I love, please come and kill them.

Or some side effect of having chakra.

Or maybe a combination.

Admittedly **'Away'** _might_ be a bit of a stretch.

The unease didn't go away for years though, lingering just out of sight.

It was actually on that fateful day we (and Shikako had become half of a 'we' in those years) met Chouji that things finally came to a head. After that little episode of childish cruelty on the part of Suzu and co, Shikako had remembered that in Naruto-verse, Shika and Chouji had formed their Orange soulbond on the very first day of their friendship.

Shikako curled up in her twins bed that night, blue chakra from her palm illuminating his face; she didn't feel as isolated anymore, but the acute pain of the lost connections still lanced through her heart.

Shikako reached out again, more desperately and forcefully than ever before; uncaring of the dull ache that came with being rebuffed on the spiritual level. Glowing palm against her brothers face, and tears in her eyes, Shikako begged without words for the only thing this world had ever denied her.

Something shifted then. Shikako didn't know exactly what happened then, but it definitely had something to do with the resonance of chakra (so maybe chakra disrupted soulmarks after all), and the warm, gentle, tingling pressure on her palm was unmistakable.

'Nara Shikamaru' flowered in a tiny, lazy, forest green scrawl in the centre of her miniature palm.

That night she slept soundly for the first time on almost 5 years, left arm loped round her brother, right palm pressed against her chest, and a smile on her face.

* * *

It wasn't long after that night that the academy debacle happened. Shikako just couldn't understand why it took so much wheedling for dad to let her go. Didn't understand that flash of something painful and sharp across his eyes as he gently cradled her skull with both hands, before finally acquiescing. Why couldn't they see that she _had_ to be with Shika? Had to be strong enough to protect him from everything that was coming.

She won't ever understand how her parents despaired on those bad days, when she couldn't be bothered to eat; didn't even try to control her response to air inundated with the chakra of an entire ninja clan.

Things were so much better now, since that first mark. She was more grounded now.

It was like she'd come to an accord with her chakra or something – because more soulmarks appeared. Not quite like before, no one else was marked in return, for starters. It took longer too… the faint sensation of a forming mark would linger for days while in the named presence; Shikako wondered if it was slowly soaking in their chakra, or maybe their spiritual energy.

Kinokawa Yoshino and Nara Shikaku faded into existence in a perfect Blue ink circle on the inside of her arm, a little above her elbow.

Next came the Silver-Orange (which transitioned to Orange) of Chouji, and the Orange-Gold of Ino, more or less at the same time. Shikako felt a little alarmed at the rate at which she was accumulating 'marks. She'd only had 9 marks all told in her last life, but even a dozen was usually indicative of a bit of a recluse.

Yet more and more names appeared, as the years wore on, Silver-Orange for Sakura and Kiba, and the Blue-Gold mark that neatly proclaimed 'Umino Iruka'. Oddly enough though, a solid Orange name appeared before any of the aforementioned. Thick, uneven script (as if written by a dogs paw in loose mud) spelling out 'Akamaru' appeared bold on Shikako's shoulder one day; and when Kiba's name joined it, the characters were so intermingled that only the Colour difference made reading them possible.

(Sometimes Shikako passed time by speculating about the marks people would have, and everyone got Mentor-Mother Iruka-sensei. Everyone. Especially the Jōnin: they need it most).

Naruto's name appeared surprisingly quickly on her ribs; the Silver-Purple-Orange upwards diagonal stripe of kanji felt like an indictment against her unwillingness to fully reach out to little blond boy, even though she wanted to. Years later, when Shikako made herself a human shield between Sasuke and his adoring fans, his name would appear as an imperfect mirror to Naruto's; beginning where Naruto's ended, a downward slanting spiky inscription that she didn't deserve in the slightest.

It was impossible to think of the marks as a negative in any way: they made not only this world, but also herself, seem more real. They did, however, present a challenge: they had to be protected, and hidden. Not just from her enemies out of fear, but also from her –everyone! Precisely how would she explain magic-chakra names tattooed on her skin to anybody?

Strategic clothing and ink stains were a start, but she needed something more effective, and stable. But it couldn't be something draining, like a permanent Henge would be.

It was something to look into during her research on seals; while she's not trying to find new ways to blow things up.


	2. Chapter 2 Graduation and Land of Waves

Chapter 2: Graduation and Land of Waves

* * *

If we move too fast, we'll break things.

If we move too slow, we'll miss things.

And if we don't move at all, we won't see things for how beautiful they truly are.

r.m. drake

* * *

Graduation was easy, and happened almost without any effort at all from Shikako; but it did come with its own fair share of guilt over Sakura's placement. Meeting Kakashi was _beyond stressful,_ and then came the bell test (which was awful).

Everything was changing so fast it made Shikako's head **spin.**

And then they were _already_ on to missions almost before she even fully realised what was happening.

Except that it's not just missions, or graduation that preoccupied her: things have happened. Or rather, one specific group of things has happened. Very specific, in fact.

A single triangle, as fate would have it.

Shikako knew that 'Hatake Kakashi' didn't just appear between one heartbeat and the next, improbably perfectly lined up with her other teammate's names to make an equilateral triangle. Regrettably though, she couldn't prove it - she didn't even feel his name forming! Proudly bright Gold, it shone below the Green-Orange and Silver-Orange names like it belonged there.

 _It did._

But that really was a simply unimaginable amount of change for such a short space of time, even discounting Kakashi-sensei somehow stealthing his soulmark on without notice.

It probably wasn't Kakashi-sensei's fault _per se_ , so he might not _strictly speaking_ deserve some one the glowers Shikako couldn't help but send him. But really, he's an absolute troll. So he deserves it really.

He made her think about deep philosophical questions about the nature of reality, and question whether or not determinism is a thing in this universe. Because A) added Surprise!Shikako, should mean a not determined future, right? But B) the formation of the team's soulmarks was anything but a coincidence, but Naruto formed the first wall of the triangle years before the others were added – and 'marks don't form complex interdependent shapes! That's not a thing that happens!

 _What does it mean?_ Was she destined to be in team 7? When she wasn't even a cannon character? What about Sakura? Or did the marks exist here invisibly anyway, and she was just insecure enough to force some chakra-staining effect so she has proof that she cares about the people in her life? …and that one really does sound even worse than she thought it would.

And then, on top of everything else… does this mean she should feel _more_ or _less_ guilty over demoting Sakura to a second tier character? Sakura's soulmark had become more Silver over the past few days… had Shikako just taken Sakura's position on the team, or usurped her place in the universe?

And if not for Kakashi-sensei's somewhat lackadaisical teaching method of _'I'm sure they'll be fine on their own for hours on end'_ then Shikako probably wouldn't have enough spare time to think this rubbish up anyway.

Paranoia and self-doubt really were the bane of her existence.

And Kakashi-sensei too, of course.

* * *

Obviously, it was at this point that the determinism argument kneecaps and free-will argument, and then stamps on its face like an angry Malfoy for good measure.

Of course team 7 is body guarding the bridge builder, who's a lying liar who lies, against Dumb and Dumber, Male!Elsa and Psycho-Killer-with-Blood!Drinking!Sword.

It was a cold comfort to Shikako to know that her name wouldn't be a permanent scar on her loved ones should she not return from the impending cataclysm; _but it was still a comfort._

Every spare second during the packing, and pleasantries, and small talk phases before they left the safety of Konoha were put to use, trying desperately to think of a way to avoid needless bloodshed and suffering. She considered her enemies:

The Demon Brothers needed to learn how to read the weather, and an extended stay with the ever hospitable Morino Ibiki would likely not be out of order.

Gatou had to be stopped, as the cause of widespread misery and death.

Haku needed a responsible (sane) adult to care for and guide him, and the latter half of that didn't even sound _too_ impossible…

Momochi Zabuza was a terrifying, mass murdering psychopath who needed to gather money for his 'ambition' of taking back his country from a Jinchuuriki enslaved by a madman. He was, rather unnervingly, not really a monster, or a mad-dog to be put down.

Before, it had seemed so unfair, and wrong, **_and such a waste_** – that the two of them had died; that Naruto had lived the rest of his days with Haku's name scarred into his skin.

'Not this time', Shikako promised the universe at large. This time, she'll make a better future; make a difference… be special. She almost cringed away from the whole plan in that moment. It seemed just as puerile now as it did that day on the roof; like she'd die of shame if she admitted it out loud. But her purpose was too important for shame, and on that note: _a wild Demon Brother appeared._

Naruto had listened to her. He hadn't stood there like a lemming and almost died; because of the training that they'd done together, because he trusted her enough to accept orders (maybe).

That was a change. Maybe not a big change – but a significant one. This didn't have to be a Greek Tragedy, Shikako resolved, forewarned is forearmed. When her teammate's eyes turned to her, Shikako hesitated only a moment, before nodding.

'A single flap of a butterflies wings', she threatened, looking up at the sky.

'I will change fate'.

* * *

'Suddenly fate looks much harder to change', Shikako thought, looking up at the _absolutely ripped_ body of Momochi Zabuza as he exuded killing intent with his 'demon chakra' (nothing on the Kyuubi's, so at least there's that) and flinging around the most blatant intimidation tactics – which incredibly still worked.

'That was probably a decent measuring tool for how scary something is', some distant thought concluded as the two elites bantered, 'knowing what something is, and how it works, and still being petrified anyway.'

What happened next was mostly a mixed blur of fear, and desperation and anger, from all sides. But still, the undertone of the confrontation wasn't the worst possible result; it was confusing as all hell, but everyone was still alive by the time Haku showed up to pull Zabuza's arse out of the fire.

So things were going at least as well ought to have… in a predetermined universe…

Damn.

Once the logistical issue of three pre-teens getting almost 6ft of dead weight off the ground was sorted, Shikako had almost no memory of the rest of the way to Tazuna's house.

Once the area was secure, the dimension-travelling genin tried for the 'butterfly effect' again; hoping this time for the 'hurricane' rather than the useless, fluttering insect, batted about in harsh winds.

Performing the Yin Release transfusion felt weird; like _properly, properly_ **bizarre _._**

In fact, even before, Shikako could feel something off about Kakashi's 'mark, as though she could feel his weakness through it, which was… also not how soulmarks were supposed to work – but what did this universe **_even care?_**

That was strange, but with the transfusion active? Uber levels of weird. Both 'marks in close proximity, humming and resonating; but at slightly different pitches – trying to connect, and failing. Like being the world's most awkwardly intrusive middleman.

In the end it was both good and bad, almost entirely good really – apart from Shikako coming perilously close to being 'friendly fire' collateral damage.

After him waking, the transfusion was easier; Kakashi-sensei's conscious acceptance brought his 'pitch' up, closer to Naruto's and Shikako's frequencies in a way that made her wonder on the possibility of not being the only soulmarked person in the world… there was so little recorded about the state of the world before the Sage of the Six Paths introduced chakra to humanity… 'Not now Shikako, academics for _later'_

After that fun, Shikako was more than happy to abandon her thoughts and sleep; and then grudgingly willing to get back up again for watch – _ugh_ _ **missions**_.

The next days were… okay-ish? Learning about the bridge was interesting, and Shikako felt that badgering sensei into teaching them a jutsu was an accomplishment… maybe…

Kakashi-sensei was a very confusing man.

Shikako was, however, very pleased to note that the strangeness of the soulmarks seemed to end with the medical jutsu; a relief, because that had been disconcertingly invasive, and she didn't like the intrusion one bit – even if the wronged parties didn't/couldn't know about the invasion of privacy.

Working on making her earth natured chakra, lightning natured was a welcomed reprieve by comparison.

Shikako could hardly believe she'd forgotten the early morning meeting between Naruto and Haku when the blond mentioned it at breakfast, but then it was hardly as dramatic as the death scene. There was so much she had forgotten.

She wondered, but only after the question had already been put, if she really had the right to ask if he had precious people to protect ( _say that five times fa_ st).

The flood of warm affection in her chest when she heard that _hers_ was among those coveted few names was almost overwhelming. It was probably an overreaction, but to hear that she was important to someone, that they would consider her precious enough to grow stronger to protect… it was just… a lot. That's not to say, of course, that her family doesn't love her, wouldn't protect her – or that she needed another to protect her in the first place _thank-you-very-much._

It's just…

In this world, no one wears their heart on their sleeve; and without her name there, without that visual affirmation… it was hard to believe they hold her in the esteem that Shikako holds them. It was hard to feel valued when confronted with, what would have been, incontrovertible proof of worthlessness. The names that peppered her body were indicative only of her own regard for others, her own emotional attachment: to be 'marked, and not 'mark in return, was a tragedy. Of the 'Opera Suicide' kind; and it wouldn't be unheard-of to take the 'Opera' off that stereotype.

Brushing off the emotion with a quick quip about getting stronger, Shikako smiled and ignored the bratty voice of dissent in the cheap-seats.

Thankfully, the rampant emotionalism within her was quelled by the arrival of their foes.

* * *

Shikako didn't wonder what it said about her, that she'd rather face a member of the Seven Swordsmen, the renowned assassin so named The Demon of the Hidden Mist, than her feelings: but only because she chose not to.

Shikako didn't have time to ruminate on the (now defunct) societal pressures of an alternate universe, and their possible effect on her mental health. Right now she needed to protect the primary mission objective, and do everything she could to keep her team alive.

The banter soothed her nerves somewhat, but this team really needs to learn how to TALK to each other. Boys always just running off, without care or, _oh_ what's the word Shikako's looking for? _'Strategy? Maybe_? Just to try **_once_** _, perhaps_?'

Shikako distracts herself with tracking Zabuza in his own chakra mist, then discreetly signalling his position to Kakashi-sensei. It's an effective diversion, no doubt, but there is nothing in the world that could detract from the overwhelming cold that sinks into her ribcage from her Team Triangle. The kunai slips to the ground, but any sound it makes is concealed by Naruto's screams.

And suddenly, Shikako isn't on the construction site turned battlefield anymore. She's gone back twelve years in a single instant. Bowed over and struggling to breathe, Shikako grapples with time, and wins for one reason only: Sasuke.

He's so cold, and that silent baby, suffocating in the dark didn't have a Sasuke: couldn't help him.

 **Shikako needs to help Sasuke.**

She still can't breathe, and there is a new name branding itself on her skin, but Shikako looks out over the bridge (there is something unusual about being able to see, but she'll figure it out later: the team is important now, not _sight_ or _breath_ ) and sees – no. Haku is gone, and Naruto, wreathed in red is still as a statue; save for the bubbling of the crimson chakra, and the trickling of tears down his distorted face. Sasuke… Sasuke is utterly still in a graveyard of shattered mirrors and steel shrapnel – _'but it doesn't count'_ she told herself firmly. She can see him _still_ , and feel he's _cold_ , but that doesn't matter because she can sense his chakra, however faint, and she can feel his name – not a scar his name, still there. 'He'll be fine,' she insisted, 'we'll all be fine.'

Forcing her lungs to take in the burning, tainted air, Shikako called out to Naruto, and he brought Sasuke over to her with infinite gentleness. For all that he had fang and claw, and that with each step he might have carried the Hokage Mountain with him, Naruto was so gentle with Sasuke's bo Sasuke.

"He'll be okay" Shikako said, as she carefully removed the senbon. Someone had asked a question, _probably_ ; and that was the only one that mattered, so she answered it. Sasuke still had chakra, and Shikako still had his name – so he wasn't allowed to go anywhere.

She stood, and let Naruto continue the bloody work. _They_ were the reason that Sasuke was hurt, why his name might have become a scar: either their reasons for causing and/or their ability to cause, further damage had to be nullified.

Shadow paralysis did the job.

Haku is heart-breaking, and even as he asks Shikako to kill him, she feels the cool impression of his name sink into the skin of her wrist.

The wrist that holds a kunai to his throat.

She tells him she'd cry, and she's starting to; not for Sasuke ( _Sasuke's going to be okay_ ) but for him. The expression of wretched despair on his face as he examines the condensation collecting in her eyes would be enough to halt a raging bijū, she's certain.

Evidently, there is some kindly kami out there, as Gatou chose this moment to deploy his 'armada' of merry miscreants and low-lives. She wastes no time in informing Kakashi-sensei of the fact.

He was even more stupid than Shikako had dared to hope; antagonising largely uninjured high ranking ninja, and _then_ smugly informing them of your treacherous plans? 'Surely there are cleaner ways to commit suicide' Shikako thinks as she pulls a bemused Haku to his feet.

It was kind of funny how people paid for the ruthless practicality of ninja, and yet constantly underestimated that very trait.

After that, madness erupted in the form of free for all combat, and the only thing Shikako remembered of it for certain was the pulsing burn of Momochi Zabuza's name curling around the single kanji of Haku's name on her right wrist.

Afterwards, she sees the unbelievable carnage of the short battle; and the stunned joy of the villagers, who had fought with their own hands for their freedom and won. The only thing she registered though was Sasuke: sitting up and looking around with a vaguely confused expression on his face.

His soulmark warm against her chest again.

* * *

After the battle, everything was, '….not really any quieter,' Shikako thought, consideringly 'maybe softer… or just that Haku's softness was more pervasive' …a way of being gentle and kind that inspired those qualities in other people, even if they had none of their own naturally.

This was especially helpful in healing the wounded villagers; Haku could have slaughtered their families then and there, and everyone would still have trusted him. It was actually a little terrifying to witness.

The two shinobi teams were about to part ways when Naruto, as open and kind as the day was long, insisted that the Mist-Nin teach them 'cool jutsu'. And with that proclamation, everything was swept under the rug.

Except for Sasuke almost dying because his body "moved on its own" and Shikako didn't know whether to hug him or cry.

Both happened, but everyone was good enough to not mention that.

And they all agreed to her Number One Rule: No Dying.

And also Kyuubi induced nightmares and heart-to-hearts happened, which may have introduced a Green thread to a previously relatively uncomplicated relationship; so Shikako would think about that when she got home safe.

Except that she wouldn't, _obviously_.

They learned in the days afterwards, and played games. Six trained killers using inhuman strength and stealth to play tag, and legendary Water Dragon Techniques to have water-fights. When they left, they were, _all of them_ , sent off as heroes. Tears, and ribbons, and parades with 'goodbyes-for-now' abundant.

Team 7 walked back home from a bridge created to free the downtrodden; the embodiment of a country's hope, and they named it for another village's pariah. And though evil had been done, and life lost; Nara Shikako had altered the lives of two people. Maybe things would be better, maybe they'd be worse, but they were different.

And for now…

for now, that was enough.


	3. Chapter 3 Chūnin Exams Part 1

Chapter 3 Chūnin Exams Part 1

* * *

"Life was good. Everything was going right. It was almost scaring him because usually when things were going this well it was the calm before the storm hit." Michelle Sutton

* * *

The three days travel back was almost a reprieve for Shikako.

Almost.

The newest additions to her soulmark collection weighed heavily on her mind. Not for what they mean, the Gold-Orange-Green and Silver-Gold speak well enough on their own regarding the rouge-nin: ditto for the polished steel inscription of 'Kurama'. What really bothers her is what people might think.

What inferences would they draw from the fact that she has the names of two highly ranked missing ninja written in chakra stain on her arm? Thankfully, this was less of a problem for the Kyuubi, at least, as no one else really knew his name.

And hope of just skating by without notice was fast running out. There was only about **_A BILLION PERCENT_** likelihood of requiring medical attention in the approaching Chūnin exam as the teammate of the 'last loyal Uchiha.'

It _was_ something she had looked into a little during her sealing studies, and anchoring certain types of illusion had been mentioned on one of the low-level introduction to sealing texts Shikako had read. Surely she could jerry-rig _something_ to cover the pigmentation of the marks, if nothing else. Maybe she could experiment with Henge and the sealing elements of 'preserve' from the object holding seals, and the chakra stabilisation mechanism from the exploding ones. It might work… as long as Shikako didn't mind the possibility ( _probability_ ) of accidental self-immolation…

… Or maybe she'd have some luck with the more advanced books being a Genin entitled her to read.

Still, it _was_ a relief to be headed home.

* * *

For all that Shikako's worst enemies were undeterred by those tall wooden doors, some resided behind them even now, she still felt a rush of safety pass over her at the sight of them.

 _'Childhood indoctrination at its finest.'_

It was interesting and boring in largely equal measure to see how post-mission debrief worked for missions gone wrong – Shikako memorised the procedure, certain that she would experience it again.

After inviting her team to come for dinner, Shikako ambled off in the direction of home; with Kakashi-sensei tagging along for his somewhat ominous sounding 'word' with her father.

She didn't even feel remotely guilty about eavesdropping on the conversation whilst giving half-hearted advice on shogi tactics to her brother; just so she had a sort-of alibi.

When Dad came back in, Shikako excused herself to help Mum with dinner; she _had_ invited three people without warning, so it was only fair.

When Mum asked about the mission, Shikako cheerfully recounted a tale that wass both absolutely true and so devoid of content as to be almost unrecognisable. And then of course Naruto had to open his big mouth… Shikako would never hear the end of this, if the looks her family were shooting was any kind of indication.

Other than that it was a great night, the openness that Naruto radiated infected everyone; and even Kakashi-sensei made an appearance.

After everyone left _The Talk_ began, which was about as fun as expected – but the fact that she hadn't _actually lied_ at any point did get her brownie points.

* * *

The next day was a good one, Shikako got up early (despite the acute nausea she felt at doing so unprompted) and went to the Genin section of the shinobi library, as well as the Nara equivalent. Looking into both seals and disguises, she found some actually _potentially workable_ solutions; which was an immense relief. Shikako had really **not** been looking forwards to death-by-accidental-self-immolation.

Then she did mind-numbing paperwork (not so much fun) before Mum came and offered extra training; and being the _kind and loving_ sister she is, _of course_ she would volunteer her big brother for extra training with Mum.

 _Serves him right for abandoning her last night._

After delivering her finished paperwork to Iruka-sensei, Shikako drops by on Sakura.

She still feels very guilty about forcing the other girl out of active service, but Sakura seemed to have taken to healing with aplomb. Shikako had never realised just how brave, and determined, and clever Sakura was. It almost seemed like being away from Naruto's adoration and Sasuke's scorn was a net benefit to her-

Shikako stopped the thought there, before she started to make excuses for herself. She had stolen her 'marks place in the world, and set back the other girls goals by months _at least_.

Gently Shikako caressed the Orange of Sakura's mark, tracing the curve of it snug behind her right ear. It was such an easy mark to cover, already mostly hidden under the 'Helix' and 'Scapha' of her outer ear. The longer side sections of her fringe that framed her face hid the 'mark without effort, deliberately tucked behind her ears or not.

Shikako felt like the scum of the earth as she offered encouragement and aid to her friend, but she had to do what she could to mitigate the effects of her intrusion.

Leaving Sakura to her studies, Shikako went home, did her chores, and the settled in to do the real work.

The new sealing books were helpful, and since Shikako'd mostly finished her comparative analysis of the different styles, she could mostly figure out what seals did just by looking at them.

She was still no closer to _actually building_ new seals though; there was probably a reason why people learned seals from Masters rather than books.

Frustrated and disheartened by the general lack of sealing progress, she turned to the somewhat battered and snappily named 'Advanced Disguise Techniques, Theory and Practice: 2nd Edition'.

Shikako leafed through the book with an evaluative eye, skimming for buzzwords and helpful diagrams after identifying sections of potential interest.

Then she paused, with an expression of polite confusion, _because **surely not**_ , and reread that trick of light.

Incredulous, Shikako rereading again the third passage of the chapter entitled 'Hiding Scars, Birthmarks and Tattoos' to confirm that it really was there. Just after the author lambasts anyone purposefully tattooing recognisable markings onto their body, is a seal. It made sense in a way, she allowed numbly, 'Advanced Disguise Techniques' would have advanced seals, while 'Sealing: An Elementary Guide' had only basic seals. _How is this universe so ridiculous?_

It's not perfect, she'd have to put a seal over every 'mark (of which there are _THIRTEEN,_ but at least she was officially ' _not a recluse'_ now – so, win?) and it wouldn't cover the different chakras, but it might just work. Shikako looked closely at the array (and the rather distressingly **_explicit_ ** warnings, really – who wrote this book?). High initial chakra cost, but once finished it would become a closed system: therefore harder to detect or disrupt. In its standard form it lasted approximately a week, but that can be altered by calibrating the 'endurance' section of the array, as long as you compensate with chakra levels.

Wait – did she really read something about _covering hickies?_ Yes. She really had.

' _Who wrote this book?'_

Nobody, apparently; but its chief editor was one Jōnin Uchiha Mikoto, with special mention to one Uzumaki Kushina. Publication dated just over 13 years ago.

Shikako stared down at the unexpected treasure on her lap, and carefully began dedicating it to memory. Tomorrow she'd show it to her boys.

It was _physically painful_ to pull herself away from the book when the time came to collect Shika, and the only way it was made bearable was the knowledge of his immanent suffering: karma for leaving _her_ to the tender mercies of their mother the night before.

Gate crashing Team 10's ' _training_ shogi' was nice, and meeting Asuma for the first time was good too, but the real joy came when brother dearest realised what was waiting for him at home.

The training was exhausting beyond measure and, despite doing better than Shika, Shikako still felt like she wasn't trying hard enough.

That night before she went to bed, Shikako made sure that all the seals in 'Advanced Disguise Techniques, Theory and Practice: 2nd Edition' were perfectly copied out, with all relevant information attached; then shoved the book in a scroll, and put that with the other 'gift' scrolls in her gear for tomorrow.

* * *

Almost as soon as she made it to the training grounds, Shikako was invited to the first truly open combat in their team's history. It was fantastic, and really, _all the better_ for their underestimating and ignoring her. _They wouldn't soon forget how she had demolished them_ , Shikako thought smugly – feeling more proud of herself than when she'd mastered Kakashi-sensei's lightning jutsu.

It was only after some discussion about the flight that Shikako remembered her surprise.

She was already half-way through her 'You won't believe what I found at the library yesterday' speech, with the scroll in hand when she realised that she had no possible way of knowing that Kushina was Naruto's mother. **_Sheer inertia_ ** kept her going until the book was unsealed, and then she suddenly didn't know what to say.

Tucking the empty scroll away only bought her moment, and then she was just standing awkwardly with the book half raised like an offering – or a shield.

Babbling happened then.

So much of it that Shikako herself wasn't really sure of what was said in the jumble.

"It's that, I just saw the names. Your mother Sasuke, and then – 13 years. And I though. And then Uzumaki. It just made sense, to be friends. But I didn't make sure, and I'm sorry. And if it isn't her, and I get your hopes up" here Shikako's mind turned to government cover-ups, and what if there's no proof? Will Naruto hate her? "I'm so sorry… I should'a just-just" on the verge of tears now, Shikako looked imploringly to her teammates.

They stared back utterly petrified.

Burning with shame, Shikako lowered the book. Then movement: Sasuke reached out a hand hesitantly to silently request the tome. She handed it over with shaking hand, then pulled her now unoccupied arms in to her chest protectively.

Sasuke examined the cover with obvious trepidation, then flicked it open. There was a soft, indrawn breath when he found his mother's name. Naruto, who had edged behind Sasuke at some point, was reading over the other boys shoulder; and when he found Uzumaki Kushina's name, he let out a soft sound of pain and wonder.

The silence was too much, and just as Shikako was about to utilise newest technique (this was _clearly the reason_ it had been invented in the first place) to escape, when Naruto darted forward and crushed her in a terrifying, chakra enhanced hug.

"it's okay," she heard him say from a distance "even if it not – she's not. It's. Thank you. Thank you so much."

The next thing she knew, she was sitting with the book open on her lap, her boys either side reading together; bantering softly over her.

"…has to be your mother dobe, no one else would say something like _that_ in an academic text"

"Hey! Your Mum wrote this too! And it's not like she _isn't right_ "

"I'm just skimming now – looking for the 'Dattebayo'"

"Saaaasssssukkkkeeeeee" Naruto whined playfully.

"You should look at what she says in 'The Illusion of Gender' chapter" Shikako finally said, entering the conversation for the first time, in a quiet shaky voice that tried for humour.

Obediently, Sasuke turned to the requested chapter, and a moment later choked.

"If she's not your mother" Sasuke informed Naruto blandly "It's because she's your sister"

Naruto collapsed against her, shuddering and choking on laughter – or tears.

That's how Kakashi found them when he turned up late.

Awkward and halting, he confirmed the identity of Naruto's mother, and neatly sidestepped the issue of the Fourth Hokage by adding, "I can't say who your father is, I didn't know her so well," the continuation of which was presumably '-as I knew her husband, whom I was apprenticed to age five', and since by law he ' _ **can't** '_ disclose Naruto's full parentage, he was being totally honest. Kakashi-sensei dodged truth like it was an art form; his 'underneath the underneath' never once required him to outright lie.

Then, because apparently the ' ** _feels'_** weren't over yet, Shikako presented her team with their photos.

It was over eventually though, _thank god_ , and the universe righted itself once more with Kakashi-sensei gleefully informing them of the impending flood of D-ranks.

Well… it was _sort-of_ over, Sasuke gently pushed The Book into Naruto's stomach with a flippant "look after this for me, will you?"

Shikako offered no excuse when she bought the book off the library the next morning; just twice what it was worth ( _priceless_ , but they didn't know that) and a solemn stare.

* * *

The next week of missions felt strangely like a holiday; summer camp or something. They weeded gardens, and walked dogs, and trained and bantered. And if the Genin of Team 7 became the most unlikely set of infiltration experts on the continent, well, they certainly didn't mention it to anyone.

Eventually though, Naruto did ask the Hokage about his mother. All their combined efforts could only dig up the minimum amount of information on her: Name, Rank, Refugee Status, Years of Service, and finally, Birth and Death Date.

It would be a long time before Shikako saw something as painful as the blank despair on Naruto's face when he saw his mother's date of death.

The Professor, however proved himself to be as smooth an operator as Kakashi-sensei. He said that Kushina "Died fighting to defeat the Kyuubi" that she'd loved Naruto fiercely, and had _indeed_ been friends with 'Young Mikoto'.

Naruto looked somewhat conflicted after that, and Shikako wondered if he was thinking about the implications that story had on his Jinchuuriki status.

Thankfully that expression faded when the Hokage continued.

"Your mother was a very powerful Kunoichi, and her records are sealed as a matter of village security... and she never officially contributed to any texts beside the one you already have… but" Here the old man paused, as if for dramatic effect and then, in true art-attack 'here's one a prepared earlier' style, pulled a thick, bound tome out from under his desk.

It sat innocently on the desk for a moment, with only two distinguishing marks on the worn brown leather of its surface. Uzushiogakure's spiral swirl, and a seal so tightly compressed, all that was left was a single kanji: Blood.

"I was told that it contains the history and teachings of the Uzumaki Clan, and that your mother gave it to my successor for safekeeping in the Hokage library." Here the Hokage's eyes softened, and he seemed to shrink somehow, truly becoming a tired old man for just a moment before he straightened out again. "Though it cannot be read by non-Uzumaki, its worth as a relic from the Hidden Whirlpool Village is incalculable." From the look on Naruto's face, the Hokage didn't need to extol the worth of this particular relic "Your mother brought carried this treasure with her own hands to our village, is it is only fitting that it find its true home with you. It may be safer here, in this tower: but safety is not its purpose." The Sandaime Hokage pushed the book closer to Naruto across the desk and smiled "It is a great honour to present you with this part of your heritage"

Naruto cradled the book with delicate care and didn't even try to speak, instead he just smiled; like he held the sun captive inside his skull.

As they left, Naruto's Oji-san called out to say that he'd always be welcome to drop by, that the old man would answer what questions he could.

It was just as well that they'd already completed the Legendary Tora Mission; they certainly wouldn't be getting anymore work done that day. The three Genin curled together under name of Naruto's mother on the KIA monument, and Kakashi-sensei knelt beside them. They had offered Naruto privacy for opening the book, and been rewarded with a look of total incomprehension. It simply would never have occurred to Naruto that he might want to keep something like this to himself.

Just a single drop of blood, and the protective illusion disappeared as ink blossomed outwards with the deactivation of the seal.

It wasn't just a book.

Naruto was forced to quickly readjust his hold on the book to keep the sheaves of loose paper from escaping. Careful notes, and diagrams and… a hand drawn map: wistfully titled 'Before the War' of a village that no longer existed. With shaking fingers Naruto traced the characters: each judiciously dated document contained some precious fragment of the woman (then girl) who had written them. Lullabies, recipes, the best routes between common destinations: the things that time would steal from the survivor of a destroyed world.

Most were tucked just beneath the cover, but some were wedged more firmly into other sections – likely a commentary, or additional content of some kind, regarding those particular sections.

When Naruto raised an arm to scrub his eyes, Shikako and Sasuke hands automatically reached out to steady the book.

From the corner of her eyes, Shikako noticed that Kakashi-sensei looked… conflicted. Very carefully, she didn't react to the thoughts that flashed through her head.

Sensei and the Hokage would have talked about the Genin's discoveries. And likely they'd agreed on giving Naruto that book; but Sarutobi Hiruzen would have no reason to know about these additional materials. The book had probably never been 'given to the Hokage's library for safekeeping', but had simply been moved there, as a natural consequence of its owner being the wife of said 'successor'. There was a lot of potential in those notes for secrets to be brought to light.

And so Kakashi was conflicted.

Curling around her teammate even more protectively, Shikako was resolved. If Kakashi wanted to take this _barest taste_ of family away from Naruto, he'd have to fight her for it. It wouldn't necessarily be much of a fight for him, but the other two would likely follow her example; so at least they'd be a nuisance at least – for all that he'd deserve more.

Kakashi coughed lightly, his choice obviously made, and said "Maa Maa, looks like you've got a lot to learn there, doesn't it"

Shikako felt a warm smile grow on her lips to match the warmth that came from sensei's name on her ribs.

"Sure do, but we'll learn it all, Dattebayo!" Exclaimed Naruto; sunshine bright and certain, despite the wateriness in his eyes and voice.

And he'd said 'we'. Kind, sharing Naruto.

"Ne ne Shikako." Naruto pulled her from her thoughts "You know sealing right?" he asked, looking up from the contents page.

Shikako looked down and saw that chapters 3 through 5 all had the word 'Seal' in their headings. In the distance, a choir of angels picked up… well not really – but still!

Looking into the blonds face, Shikako felt an answering grin form. As one, their eyes found Sasuke; who was still for a moment, then hunched up slightly before sighing in mock-morose assent. Clearly he realised that was a non-negotiable team study that would be taken _in addition_ to everything else they were already doing. _What they all really needed was a Time Turner._

Kakashi-sensei shuddered at the edge of her vision, edging both further away and closer in a way that perfectly described his feelings towards his Genin _all_ learning the Art of Sealing. Shikako had the feeling that Kakashi would be **_present and on time_** to every sealing session: even if he had to hide in a bush, or something, to preserve his image.

A day later Team 7 were presented with the second (or first, really – hopefully first _at least_ ) C Rank mission. Somehow, Shikako didn't have particularly high hopes for their 'find and receive' mission going well; Naruto on the other hand seemed thrilled.

He seemed even more enamoured of the Sandaime than usual, whereas Shikako's regard had only cooled further. 'That book belongs to Naruto, why didn't he get it the first time?' She thought with a kind of distant resentment. She's pondered a time or two, why she hadn't been marked with her leaders' name. Eventually she came to the conclusion that she just wasn't emotionally invested in him. To Shikako, he was already a dead old man; albeit one was the architect (however unwitting) of much of the suffering faced by the two boys she'd adopted as her own.

Shikako was pleasantly surprised by how little went wrong during the mission. The sticky chakra thing would have probably been a bigger issue for the Other Team 7; she can just _imagine_ the stink the boys much have kicked up over being glued together 'holding hands'.

The banter between the boys was good natured (Shikako would remember the 'because you have nothing to add' one _forever_ ) and apparently Naruto had gone to the Hokage last night to learn the story behind the 'special mention' in 'Advanced Disguise Techniques, Theory and Practice'.

Apparently, Mikoto had been severely injured on the warfront (an unspecified injury that required months of rehabilitation) and had been assigned the position of Chief Editor of Internal Shinobi Publications for the last months of the war – an effort to keep her occupied with something useful while her comrades remained on the front. The Kunoichi Uchiha had apparently taken exception to the Elders suggestion that she become a housewife while her friends and comrades died in Konoha's defence. Kushina's own brief return to the village coincided with the 2nd edition rehash of the stated text, and to cheer up her dear friend, the Seals Mistress offered her services as Co-Editor and comedic relief. The first print of it was actually well over a year after it had been finished: Uchiha Mikoto had been an exceptionally committed and prolific Chief Editor, and had created quite the backlogged surplus of updated educational texts.

When they got back to the village, Sasuke was still caught up in his quiet introspection. Catching his eye, Shikako smiled gently at him. He smiled back. A tiny, soft, confused thing; but open and honest in a way it never had been before.

'He needed that,' she realised as they made their way through the gates. '…to connect to his family away from that disastrous night. To really see his mother as a living person in her own right, rather than another murdered victim to remember: to avenge.' Maybe it would hurt more now, after realising that she was a solider once to. That she had also experienced injury, and helplessness. Shikako bet it was worth it though – to read words from her that he'd never seen before. She wondered if, in the safety of Sasuke's own mind, the voice that read those words rang with an echo of his mothers'.

Shikako felt a little thrown herself. She's never thought of the people of this world as, well _people_ really. Even now, she thought of them in general terms as 'characters' unless she had a specific attachment to them.

What did she think of Mikoto 'the person'?

'Clever,' she decided 'dedicated, loyal. Good Jōnin-sensei material' Shikako deflated, suddenly very tired as the actual human cost of Danzo's meddling really hit her for the first time.

So much death already, and so much more yet to come… and for what?

Revenge?

Hubris?

Peace?

Shikako would admit to being somewhat disheartened by the time she made it home.

She tried her best, over the next four days to conceal the worst of it. Being around her family and her team helped a lot. Especially with the boys being stuck together (with sensei's additional 'teamwork drill' torture sessions), it was like having a 3-day front-row ticket to 'Live at the Apollo'. Shikako stuck close by them during 'sociable' hours, claiming solidarity. Not one of them believed her, but no one complained.

And she trained; obsessively.

That reality-check ( _the irony_ ) had given her a kind of… grim resolve to get stronger.

Shikako also tried out the Sealing Art: Hidden Marks technique. Calibrated to a month, and painstakingly painted left-handed onto her right wrist, over the names of Haku and Zabuza. When no obviously life threatening repercussions ensued, Shikako sealed another.

She might even develop ambidexterity from this, which would be useful.

* * *

It was on that fourth day though, that time seemed to move forwards again.

'Yet another D-rank fearlessly completed by the brave and loyal Konoha ninja', she thought dryly, 'truly the exciting life of a Genin knows no bounds'

Shikako felt a small flutter of interest at the Jōnin hawk summons as Kakashi-sensei bailed with a non-excuse, but dropped it easily enough.

The remaining three-quarters of Team 7 were making their way to the training fields when… well, they were pursued by a _very square_ rock.

Sasuke and Shikako both turned their eyes to Naruto; instinctively knowing where to assign blame.

Flushing brilliantly, and huffing Naruto marched towards the – ah, stone.

"A square rock with two eye holes like that doesn't exist" Naruto informed them sternly, taking disguises much more seriously these days. "It's so obvious!"

"I should have expected that from my rival!" the box announced before exploding in an impressive cloud of smoke and flying debris. "Hey! You used too much gunpowder!"

As the smoke cleared it revealed three vaguely familiar coughing children.

"We are-" they shouted. "Moegi!" "Udon!" "Konohamaru!" "And together the three of us make: the Konohamaru Corps!"

"I thought, it'd be you," Naruto said, completely unimpressed. "Why do the three of you have goggles on?"

"We copied the old you," Konohamaru explained laughing.

It was beyond sweet to watch Naruto and his little flock interact, especially the demands that he 'play ninja' with them.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Ninja playing ninja," he scoffed, but there was something like agony hidden under the surface of cool disdain. "I'm going to the training fields. Meet me there if you're coming." He walked on.

Shikako stood still for a moment, torn, but when Naruto tried to use her to renege on his promises; she was suddenly struck by inspiration.

"Play ninja, huh?" She smirked, feeling more like herself than she had in days. "I've got just the perfect idea…"

Oh it was a delightfully wicked idea. Shikako felt giddy just thinking about it. "Here's what we're going to do…"

The training fields were quiet when we got there. Sasuke was practicing his kata alone in the middle of the clearing. It was probably a relief to be able to do so, after spending three days 'shackled to a moron' as he's so elegantly put it.

"Target aquired?" Shikako asked the three pseudo-formally, who nodded in response.

"Sasuke is going to kill us," Naruto said, awe in his voice; but a sly, side-eyed grin on his face.

"Shush you. Remember the plan?"

They nodded again.

"Okay, Konohamaru. On your mark!"

Shikako crept into position, ninja children were taught tactics though games; and this would be a fun-er - important! _important_ tactical lesson.

"Now!" Konohamaru leapt out of the bushes, deploying a colourful smoke bomb. Sasuke blinked in bafflement as he was pelted with paper shuriken. He'd dodged automatically, hands twitching towards his kunai pouch before he paused, and registered what was going on. Sasuke really had no clue how to respond to kids attacking with fake weaponry.

'Diversion tactic successful'' Shikako leapt and landed lightly behind him, arms wrapping around him mimicking a bear hug, when it was In fact, merely just a hug.

"Got you" she sing-songed and the kids cheered.

"What the-" Sasuke stared, looking at Shikako with wide, almost frightened eyes.

"Play along," She whispered in his ear, and watched Naruto get dragged out of the bushes: he looked even more stunned than Sasuke, like he couldn't quite believe she's pulled it off.

Then Shikako 'lost grip' on Sasuke, and gasped dramatically "Oh no! He got loose! Run!"

And then Sasuke was playing too; Shikako hoped that it eased whatever memory it was that had haunted him earlier.

They careened down the streets back into town, the laughing and shrieking the whole way (except Sasuke, who was silent as a stalking cat). Shikako realised too late that they were going to hit someone.

It was just unlucky that that someone happened to be Kankurou; because _of course it was_.

Oh look, his sister was there too… aaaaannnd, yep. Three for three, Shikako tried to keep a measure of levity in her thoughts as Gaara's chakra pinged her senses in the trees; it didn't work.

Kankurou snarled something Shikako didn't quite register, and grabbed Konohamaru by his scarf. Temari berated her brother, but she was obviously hyped up herself – _'and why wouldn't she be'_ Shikako wondered sardonically. She was only deep in enemy territory, with one brother attracting negative attention, and the other held in the sway of a bloodthirsty charka demon and might decide to kill them at any moment.

It was harder to keep a cool head then she was expecting, but Shikako guessed that was the price for actually caring about people. Looking into Gaara's cold, dead eyes, Shikako couldn't find it in herself to regret that. The two Sand and Leaf nin parted ways without bloodshed or weapons drawn, so Shikako was willing to count that as a victory.

Somehow, for all his progress, Shikako was still completely unsurprised to find that an 8-year-old knew more about rank progression than Naruto did.

And with that glaring sign of things to come, Shikako that night began preparations. There was so much at risk going into this exam, and Shikako knew that she would have to press her every advantage to maximise their potential survivability.

Her greatest advantage by far was foresight (assuming her knowledge from Before was still accurate) so Shikako just needed to figure out a way to _use It_.

'And discreetly too' she added, thinking how very unwise it would be to walk into Konoha's library and check out all the books on The Forest of Death.

Unobtrusively perusing the Nara archives on the other hand…


	4. Chapter 4 Chūnin Exams Part 2 1st Exam

Chapter 4 Chūnin Exams Part 2

Notes:

A lot of people have asked about the colours and such, the link to the original guide is still in the notes of the first chapter, but my own headcannon is as such:

Forest Green is sibling relationships.  
Blue is parent-child relationships.  
Orange is for close friendships.  
Silver describes a relationship with an uncertain nature.  
Gold/Yellow describes mentoring/admiration/pride relationships.  
Red is for Romantic love.  
Brown is someone you hate so much, you're willing to dedicate a portion of your soul to opposing them.  
Purple is a forgotten/wistful/longing relationship, such as a close childhood friend whom you moved away from and outgrew, or someone you wish you had the courage to get close to.  
When the person associated with a mark dies, their name becomes a permanent Scar, as the skin under a mark ceases to produce natural pigmentation.  
The death of the individual turns every active soulmark on their body Slate Grey, like a Scar

Hope that clears everything up :) I'm always happy to answer other questions as they arise.

Also, whole swathes of dialogue and such are going to be inserted wholemeal into the story from DOS; so thank you again, Silver Queen. Full credit where credits due. Your merciful and generous nature is a boon to the universe as a whole.

One more thing, it has occurred to me that Shikako cherishing what she calls her 'soulmarks' is simply a way to refer to the person attached to the soulbond. They are your soulmark, or soulmarked, or soulbound if the colours of your names match. Red-Red, Brown-Brown it doesn't matter; you can have soulbound siblings, lovers or enemies.

* * *

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. Lou Holtz

* * *

After a night spent reviewing all the things she could expect to happen, things she would logically be able to infer from her current position, and things that she would be able to 'discover' about the exams without causing too much suspicion, Shikako went to the clan library.

At half past four in the morning.

It hurt in a very real way to get up.

Shikako had sealed three more of her marks before snatching a few hours of sleep, so recouping the chakra was necessary; but the wasted time grated on her mind.

The early hour was in part an attempt to avoid unwelcome attention, but also because she also had a team meeting later in the morning, and Shikako needed start figuring out _yesterday_ how to keep her soulmarks safe.

There wasn't much in the available books about the individual previous exams, just the general skills a shinobi was expected to portray in order to receive the promotion. The best info she could find was that it could take anywhere from four days to five months. There was one every six months, and the 'honour' of hosting the exams rotated through most of the recognised ninja villages: some, like Hidden Waterfall had never hosted, and Rain hadn't done so since the Second War. Shikako discovered that the exams always covered multiple bases: survival skills, physical and psychological endurance, combat proficiency and, intelligence gathering, were the most regularly tested categories in the Konoha exams.

Shikako then realised that she was an idiot, and combed through the stacks of old newspapers boxed up in the back corner. Limiting herself to the past five years of coverage, Shikako skimmed three different outlets, distantly cataloguing the politicking and nationalism and xenophobia in each. She paid extra attention to the gambling sections. It was enough to reasonably discern patterns, and begin to predict what might be coming.

Shikako left early so she could drop by the gate guard's box. As an active member of the village's military, Shikako was entitled to enquire after the potential security risks the Chūnin Exams raised. When the gate Chūnin asked why a wet-behind-the-ears Genin like herself was asking, she was more than happy to tell them the truth – of a sort. That she'd met the Suna shinobi 'Gaara of the Desert' the day before, how he had seemed dangerous and unstable, and she wanted to know when he'd leave. The first laughed at her, proclaiming that she'd described the majority of powerful ninja. The second, though, had stilled when she'd mentioned Gaara's name; then he told her to keep as far away from 'that one' as possible. Eventually though, they coughed up the numbers: they really didn't fill her with joy. 81 foreign Genin participants, a selection of Jōnin-sensei to keep them in order, and whatever guard came with their nobles and Kages: all entitled to stay for six weeks.

'What a mess.' Shikako thought to herself as she made her way to her team.

Shikako was tempted to say no, when Kakashi informed them all that he'd entered them into the Chunin Examinations.

To take her boys, and _run_.

But that wasn't the smart play, and it would leave her other 'marks undefended. What would happen to everyone if Naruto wasn't there to stop Gaara?

The playful argument over their Team Name only helped a little to ease the tight knot of apprehension in her chest.

Kakashi-sensei agreeing to teach them escape and evasion techniques was a real comfort though; even if it was probably useless against an opponent of Orochimaru's calibre.

Shikako left after the session, with a promise that she would start teaching them seals tomorrow. The sound of Sasuke helping Naruto incorporate the 'Raging Whirlpool' (or 'Haranbanjō Kachū') forms into his already wildly unpredictable personal Taijutsu style was music to Shikako's ears as she walked away.

Her pre-test test was inadequate right from the start; how could anyone think they'd fool her by pretending to her twin?

Honestly.

 _Iruka-sensei really is a sweetheart though._

Mum really stepped it up a notch when Shikako informed her that they had both been put forwards for the Chunin Exams. It was more than worth the pain to see the look of horrified betrayal on Shika's face. Her brother _would_ be strong enough to survive, Shikako decided. 'Whether he likes it,or not.'

Tiredly, Shikako sealed off two more 'marks, ignoring the instinctive flash of horror she felt at the empty spaces left behind. Not being able to see them was hard; it was only due to the fact that she could still feel them that she didn't rip the seals off. Gazing up at the ceiling, Shikako considered what she remembered from Before, what she knew now, and everything Mum had just taught her about defeating a superior opponent.

The last thing Shikako thought about before falling asleep was: how effectively could she weaponise the effects of a rapid-discharge Electricity Seal on the trees of Training Ground 44?

* * *

It was another early start for Shikako, who went back to the library. She 'looked' for somewhere in the village that could be used for testing the 'survival skills' of that many ninja. She was actually surprised when she found the 'Zeroth Training Ground', but was able to dismiss it as a possibility, due to its becoming a nature reserve. The only other place that seemed reasonable was the Forty-Fourth Training Grounds, nicknamed the Forest of Death.

Apparently, 'The Forest of Death' had been created while the Shodai Hokage had been 'experimenting' with his Mokuton techniques, which was why the area was so different to everywhere else in the village. The slim volume only an overview on the physical creation of the village, and so doesn't go into the secrets of what exactly happened during that experiment, it was likely a village secret anyway. It did, however, remark in passing that the effects may be the result of the unusual concentration natural energy reported in the area since.

Apparently, the 'effects' mainly included terrifyingly massive, strong, and intelligent animals inhabiting the area. There were reports of giant centipedes, and enormous leeches.

' _Well now_ , isn't that terrifying?' Shikako thought to herself quietly as she examined an anatomical diagram of the centipede, complete with human for scale, in a book called 'Predators Native to Konohagakure and Her Surrounding Territories'.

As there was no possible way to safely use those animals to her advantage, Shikako moved them into the 'avoid at all costs' category; and pondered a new angle of attack until she left for team training.

The team talked about their pre-exam tests, and then Naruto proved himself to be the biggest idiot-genius ever to botch Pre-Genin Jutsu.

'The enhanced Replacement Technique Naruto used was an unbelievable boon', Shikako thought to herself. It was basically a short range, simplified substitution for the Hiraishin no Jutsu. While they were playing tag, Shikako marvelled at Naruto's new Jutsu, and tried to decode it. Normal Kawarimi consisted of five hand seals (Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog, and Snake), but it was possible to shave off seals as one grew more familiar with a technique. Naruto's Kage Kawarimi no Jutsu (which is what Shikako would be calling it from now on) definitely did not use that formation. The 'Tiger' seal was mangled: left hand higher like the Ram seal, with only the pinkies crossed. Dog had been dropped entirely, for some unknown reason.

'How on earth has that boy managed to survive' Shikako wondered as she analysed the fluctuations of his chakra. She felt terribly jealous, in a way. Without even realising it, Naruto had taken a basic technique, and made it into something unbelievably useful. Why couldn't she do something like that? Shikako mentally complained.

A slow, blossoming thought curled around the periphery of her mind.

'Why not indeed?'

Why couldn't she, say, get the scrolls she needed for the second task before they even went into the forest? The all they'd have to do was quickly and discreetly make their way to the finish line.

The boys looked unnerved at the expression of dark glee on Shikako's face, and the pace of the game slowed as neither of them wanted to step into her firing line.

Sensei arrived chirpy as usual, but immediately began running them through some highly practiced and efficient evasion drills. It was tricky and exhausting work, and Kakashi-sensei made you _pay_ for any lapses. Afterwards she spent a little time teaching her teammates about seals. It was fairly slow going, as the Uzumaki Tome didn't actually have a 'beginner' section for the seals. So, Shikako made diagrams, showed them how different components reacted to each other in different positions, and gave them copies of the most common elements to review.

Somewhat amusingly, the problems faced by Naruto were exactly the opposite problems to Sasuke. Naruto's memory for exactly which aspect did what was quite frankly terrifying.

"Oh, that's the detonator? I thought that was the squiggly thing that looks like a cat bumped into the Kanji for west!" He'd said. This boy was going to stop her heart one of these days, she groused, probably because he'd _blown her chest cavity open_. His handwriting was terrible too.

On the other hand though, he seemed to have some inborn understanding of balancing the seal arrays, and predicting the interactions between different elements (how he managed that _without knowing what they were_ was just one of life's greater mysteries).

Sasuke had memorised everything Shikako had given him with a lazy flicker of blood-red eyes, but still couldn't understand why they interacted in the way they did; and the arrangements and 'whys' of the chakra flow were clearly Ancient Greek, as far as the Uchiha could figure.

Naruto, of course, accused Sasuke of cheating, and then declared that _he_ would just have to cheat too. Suddenly, there were two dozen Naruto's fighting over who got to look at the notes, before half of them suddenly realised that there was another copy.

At least Sasuke looked amused as he used his new evasion skills to avoid the small orange-clad mob.

Sighing, Shikako thought wistfully of all the potential study time that would come, if only she had the reserves for that technique. With the nigh-unlimited time Naruto had at Shikako's disposal, she might just be able to think of a way to protect her team from the end of the world. Though she knew better than to make the attempt immediately, Shikako carefully tucked away the seal order (Ram, Serpent, Tiger) and chakra patterns in her mind for safekeeping.

After that, Shikako went home to be run into the dirt by Mum, who was _easily_ as determined as Shikako herself that the twins would be returning alive from the exams. Shikamaru considered the whole thing troublesome beyond words, but knew Ino would make his life hell if he didn't show up.

That night though, Shikako finally got to try out the Kage Kawarimi no Jutsu that had been burning in the back of her mind all day. Taking extra care with the mangled Tiger-Ram seal, Shikako mimicked the shape of Naruto's chakra while performing the technique. By the time Shikako managed cut the Jutsu off, it had torn away half of her remaining chakra reserves. Out of the corner of her swimming vision, Shikako saw a glimmering, half-formed chakra construct collapse into nothingness.

Panting and swaying, Shikako decided to save that one for another day.

Collapsed on her bed, Shikako salvaged her plans. Kage Kawarimi might not have worked in this instance, she told herself consolingly. The high chakra content would have been too much of a giveaway. Maybe she could use a Henge'd scroll and a standard Kawarimi instead: as long as she was careful and could keep the illusion intact for the replacement, it might work.

She'd practice that tomorrow.

* * *

The next few days were exhausting _beyond measure_ , but the team was as prepared as Shikako could make them. Shikako herself was also prepared to the fullest of her ability. She had sealed off the last of her marks (despite the way not-seeing Shika's name made her stomach lurch. Skikako kept her dress conservative so that she didn't have to see the unnatural blankness of her own skin), finalised her plans, and mastered the art of swapping the scrolls with the barest flicker of chakra.

All remained was to see how the chips fell.

She examined the boys critically, to see how they had improved.

Naruto was so much better it was unreal. With the Uzumaki Taijutsu added to his repertoire, and the addition of some actual tactics to his relentless pace, the boy was nigh unstoppable.

Sasuke was faster now too, with more polished Taijutsu, and his Shurikenjutsu skill was a thing of beauty. When his Sharingan was active, attacking him head on was sheer folly, though it still had limitations - mostly speed and grappling. Eyesight doesn't play a huge role when someone is about three inches away from you.

They might just make it, Shikako thought, quietly optimistic for the first time.

"Three o'clock this afternoon. Academy Room 301," Shikako recounted, swinging her feet over the edge of the bridge. "Do you think we should bring mission packs?"

Sasuke paused, clearly he hadn't considered that. "It's in the Academy."

She shrugged. "That might just be where we're meeting." She didn't know what the time period between the First and Second Exams. Straight away? Next day?

"Short-term mission gear?" Sasuke suggested. They were, after all, taught how to survive in the wilderness with nothing more than a sharp stick.

Shikako hummed. "I'll bring an extra sealing scroll just in case." In addition to the four blank replacement ones, and the one with her newly acquired supplies, obviously.

"Chūnin Exams, Chūnin Exams," Naruto chanted. "This is going to be awesome!"

Shikako couldn't match his exuberance, but she smiled nonetheless as they ambled over to the academy. She didn't even really see this as the start of the Exams really, it was just an intelligence gathering opportunity. She knew the punchline to Ibiki's joke already, though no one could be allowed to know that.

'Boys' Shikako mentally sighed after all that ruckus with the disguised Chūnin and Rock Lee had ended. All Sasuke had to do was walk up another flight of stairs, and that would have been that. But _no_ , Sasuke had to be a _prima donna_ about the whole thing.

Still, it was nice (sort of) to be introduced to Gai and Lee… and if they were happier to see Kakashi-sensei than usual, well, they were just in high spirits for the exams.

Sensei had the look of someone who had the dubious pleasure of understanding _completely_.

"I'm proud of you." He'd smiled. "Couldn't ask for a better team. Good luck."

Shikako tucked those words into her chest, just behind that hidden triangle, and opened the door.

* * *

It was interesting to examine the assembled shinobi, and good to see her old classmates again. Shikako wasn't even too mad at Kiba for christening them the 'Rookie Nine' from now until the end of time.

It lightened something in her chest to see them all interacting, and it was the first time she and Hinata had been even close to having a conversation. The poor girl was just _so shy_ and disliked conflict even more than Shikako herself; watching her try to speak to Naruto made Shikako feel a rush of sympathy for the tiny, violet-eyed heiress. It was almost enough to make the Nara forget the agonising pain of the Jūken strike, and think that the little Hyuuga needed protecting. Almost.

And then Kabuto appeared from the crowd, and Shikako had to restrain the urge to plant her strongest explosive seal on his forehead. He looked harmless and unassuming. Even his chakra presence was a weak, unthreatening hum; but Shikako knew that he was a Jōnin at least. This meek looking man was Orochimaru's spy, Madara's ally and responsible for the mass Edo Tensei.

Shikako studiously kept her body language passive and watchful, the way it had been since her arrival, but the urge to draw blood was almost unbearable.

Kabuto's attempts to ingratiate himself to the group of clan heirs had, _no doubt_ , destroyed his cover, Shikako thought to herself smugly. She had to resist the urge to urge to embrace Shino when he suggested reporting the traitor; this exam was doing terrible things to her emotional control, and the games had only just begun.

It seemed very obvious to Shikako that Ibiki wanted them to cheat, but there you have it.

It took her twenty minutes to finish; including rechecking answers, and time spent lamenting the general lack of calculators. Casting her eyes about subtly, she checked on her teammates. Sasuke was cheating with his Sharingan, just like she Remembered, but Naruto was still frozen in abject horror.

It was hard to get her shadow all the way over to him, but she succeeded; and after a brief struggle, Shikako finished his paper and cut the Jutsu.

Then Ibiki played the 'psychological warfare' aspect of the exam to its fullest effect with the 10th question. There was a vague recollection from Before of Naruto kicking up a fuss, so she wasn't even remotely surprised to find him standing on a table, shouting down the Head of Torture and Interrogation. _'Oh, Naruto…'_

Ibiki looked almost, _just_ _slightly,_ impressed by the orange-clad boy, and explained the purpose of the test.

"Information," he told them all "it can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather information can determine whether a mission is a failure or a success. There'll be times you have to risk your life to get it."

He bared his scars then: removed the bandana. He had looked scarred in the anime, but this… _dear god._ It was simply _unfathomable_ , at least on an emotional level – her Nara brain was already cataloguing age and delivery means for each disfiguration.

"Of course, you must always consider the source of your information. Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate. Always bear this in mind. Disinformation can be worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in the position where you had to gather accurate intelligence. Cheat, in order to survive. Those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out. Leaving the rest of you."

He put his bandanna back on and scanned the room.

"The tenth question was the main point of the whole exam. The final question gave you two choices, both difficult. You could play it safe and chose to skip the question, though it meant that both you and your teammates would be failed. Or you could take the question, knowing if you got it wrong, you would lose your chance of ever being Chūnin. It was a no-win situation. But just the sort Chūnin have to face every day. For example, let me give you a hypothetical mission. To steal a document from an enemy stronghold. You have no idea how many ninja the enemy has. Or how heavily armed they are. Furthermore, you have reason to believe that the enemy expects you. You might very well be walking blindly into a trap. Now do you have an option of taking a pass on this insane mission, of saying 'my comrades would rather live to fight another day'? Can you choose to avoid danger? No. There will be many missions that seem almost suicidal if you think about it. But you do not think about it. You think only of the goal achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a Chūnin squad leader."

Many missions would seem almost suicidal if you thought about it. But you do not think about it. Only the goal matters, not the odds…

Almost suicidal? Like trying to save a teammate from an S-ranked missing nin?

It wasn't a mission, because it was so much more important than that. This was just something that had to be opposed; mitigated where possible, and borne where not. As long as she stood between her precious soulmarks and the dangers of this world, she _would_ face impossible odds. Court death to protect them. It would be worth it, and she wouldn't be intimidated by Orochimaru, or Kabuto, or even Madara. Her loved ones were worth it all, and _that was the end of it._

So don't think about how impossible it is. Only think about how it can be done.

She breathed in. Breathed out.

It wasn't quite an epiphany. Shikako had already known this. But there was something about having someone else voice it… to have it put into words…

'People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.' Someone had said once, a world and a lifetime away.

Shikako wouldn't brook interruption, not from herself. Not from anyone.

"You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this stage of the Chūnin Selection Examination completed. There's nothing left but to wish you all good luck."

There tension eased, and people began to celebrate; which made it an excellent time for a legitimately crazy person to make their entrance.

"Head's up, boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating! I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi. You ready for the next test? Good! Then let's go, follow me!"

Shikako felt a kind of fascination that was usually reserved for dangerous animals when she looked at Mitarashi Anko. For the first time, her Before knowledge felt a breach of privacy. Shikako's memory of Anko's suffering as Orochimaru's apprentice seemed invasively intimate suddenly; the uncomfortable fact that Shikako had gotten more than an eyeful of the Tokubetsu Jōnin's 'assets' paled into insignificance, comparatively.

"How many are there, Ibiki?" Anko asked. "You let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy; you must be getting soft. Before I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated," she said confidently before turning back to us.

By the very nature of the second test, it was an accurate statement of fact.

"Alright, you maggots have had it easy, but things will be different starting first thing in the morning. Meet me at Training Ground 44. Dismissed!"

Shikako signalled her teammates to follow her as they left. She couldn't explain about the scrolls, for obvious reasons; but she could tell them that her research indicated that a long-term survival test was likely, and to prepare for that. It would be easy enough to pack heavy and light at the same time. Even though their sealing skills were rudimentary at best, they still had the seals she'd made for them to study.

' _And so it begins_ ' Shikako thought, as she watched Sasuke and Naruto head home for a long moment, before she turned to leave herself.


	5. Chapter 5 Chūnin Exams Part 3 2nd Exam

Chapter 5 Chūnin Exams Part 3

* * *

As before, there is some content pilfered directly from DOS, mostly its dialogue. Silver Queen is a God, so hopefully she'll let me get away with it.

Thank you to my beta MathisMagic, and to all of you; readers, reviwers, favourite-rs and followers. You all make me unbelievably happy :P

* * *

"Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I'm not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you've felt that way." Charles Bukowski

* * *

It was a bright, clear morning; but Shikako was much too twitchy to appreciate it. All she could think about was the inevitable meeting in the Forest of Death. Her team surviving their brush with Orochimaru was entirely up to the man himself. And luck.

Orochimaru wasn't exactly _known_ for his mercy, and Team 7 luck was a fickle thing.

There was no way Shikako could stand against him. Hell, _Kakashi_ , could barely stand against him. That was how outclassed she was. Shikako could stand between him and Sasuke all she liked, but her chances of being able to stop the S-rank traitor were… pretty much nil.

She would just have to get them through the test before he found them.

Avoid and evade, delay and mitigate. That was the best she could realistically hope for.

She'd spent the morning finalising her plans, checking over her gear, and generally tying not to think about the approaching shitstorm. _It really didn't work._

Team 7 met up at 'their bridge' and Shikako found the boys to be hysteria-inducingly blasé and cock-sure about the whole affair. Yes they'd had an easy time yesterday, and sure they didn't know what was coming; but this is still a competition where _children fight each other to the death_ for military advancement.

Shikako thought that a little of her solemnity might have rubbed off on them by the time they made it to forest boundaries, but it was mostly just wishful thinking. They actually tried to comfort her by telling her their was _nothing to worry about_. As if _they_ were the ones with inexplicable foresight.

"What the hell is this place?" Naruto muttered, as they gathered close to the warning-sign covered fence around the forest, and Shikako felt hopeful that he might actually start taking this seriously. There was a little booth to the side where several Chūnin sentinels sat, and a clearing big enough for all the contestants. Inside the wire was like a different world. Even sunlight itself seemed to avoid the forest, curving fearfully away like a nervous cat, leaving it cast in shadow despite the brightness of the day. The trees were overgrown and twisted, _malevolent_ ; it even looked _dank_ , which isn't a word Shikako had ever used in real life before.

Mitarashi Anko introduced the location (and the nickname thereof) of their 2nd test with a flourish; and a bloodthirsty little grin.

Shikako suspected that Mitarashi had a reputation that was completely blown out of proportion. With her bombastic personality, tragic past, and a _reportedly well-earned_ reputation for 'crazy'; most people seemed eager to keep away from her. It made Shikako feel a little sad actually, that same little pang she felt when Kakashi-sensei turned up hours late with a purposefully inane excuse on his lips.

As they waited, Shikako examined the reduced crowd; this time with much more gravity than she had during the first exam. She might have to fight some of these people to the death. The first thing that her chakra sense brought to her attention was Gaara. She thought that his Seal must be arrayed very different to Naruto's; there was a constant stream of dry, burning, _hungry_ chakra from within the redheads' body. It felt visibly agitated, and Shikako reinforced her determination that they would avoid him; she'd be able to sense him from a kilometre away if he continued to be so angry… somehow, that still _didn't_ sound like a positive thing.

Obviously, while Shikako's attention was elsewhere, Naruto had to open his big mouth and draw Anko's attention as a convenient, loud-mouthed, whipping boy.

She knew she was fooling herself to think she could stop him, 'but we live in hope'.

Then Shikako was faced with her most dangerous enemy yet, her narrowed eyes caught on an obscenely long purple tongue. The Soft Body Modification Jutsu wasn't unique in and of itself; but Shikako's Before knowledge warned her of Orochimaru's intrusion into the exam. She didn't _know_ that it was him, but she _suspected_. Shikako made note of that strangely subdued chakra, just to be safe.

Anko was still smiling as she threatened the Grass-nins life, like it meant nothing; but there was tension in the set of her shoulders. Too many teeth in her smile. Shikako wondered if Anko also suspected, or if just the resemblance was enough to strike her off kilter. She had kept Naruto in front of her, though, with a kunai drawn defensively. The fact that Anko chose to remain and defend, rather than to move and abandon Naruto… that won her points with Shikako in a big way.

The Grass ninja then implied, syrupy sweet, that he might might be able to harm a Special Jōnin. Normally, the mere suggestion that a Genin could hurt Anko would be ludicrous, but Shikako doubted very much that a Genin lived in that skin any longer.

Not that anyone else had cause to doubt, and Anko must have realised that she was losing the respect of the crowd; visibly she changed tactics.

"Seems like everyone here today is quick tempered. There must be something in the air," She moved carelessly back to the front of the group where everyone could see her, but something about her remained on edge. Shikako could only hope that the Tokubetsu Jōnin was wary enough to actually do something about him.

Then she produced 'consent forms', and Naruto ('G _oddamn it Naruto,_ **shut up!** ' _)_ spoke up again.

"Some of you may not come back from this test. And I have to get your consent for that risk. Otherwise it would be my responsibility." She chuckled like the concept was ridiculous. And it was. Once you were signed up to the Chunin Exams, your life was in your own hands. There were no such things as 'consent forms'. She was just playing at psychological warfare, same as Ibiki. Well, it was probably a good way to get a list of participants, if nothing else. Maybe they'd get finger prints, and DNA samples, or even chakra samples if they used the right paper. The information gathering potential here was immense, Shikako realised, and was probably why they allowed a risky thing like the Chūnin Exams to take place at all.

Anko then informed them she would explain both the terrain and test to them. A focused stillness settled on the crowd as she unrolled a map and began to explain the layout of the training ground. From her distance, Shikako could barely make out the large features of the arena. She nudged Sasuke hissing "Eyes!" and hoping he'd use his Sharingan to memorise it. Having a copy of a map could never hurt.

"The 44th Training Ground has 44 locked entrance gates. There are rivers and a forest inside. In the centre is a locked tower, located 10km from each gate."

At 20 kilometres across, covering 300 square kilometres, the Forest of Death was _ridiculously huge_. Something Shikako fully intended to take advantage of; how much trouble could they really run into when everything's so far apart?

"You'll be fighting to get _both_ a Heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll," Anko said, holding up both as an example. Shikako examined them as closely as she could. They were fairly average sized as scrolls go, about a hands length and the width of a circled finger and thumb. They'd be easy to hide, and perfect for Shikako's plan. "Altogether 26 teams will be taking part in this test, so half of those teams will be going after the Heaven Scroll and the other half will be trying to get the Earth Scroll. I'll hand over one kind of scroll to each team and that's what you'll be fighting for."

Sasuke and Anko then discussed the 'gruelling' nature of the test. Why did _she_ have to be saddled with the brazen, over-confident, attention grabbing teammates? They'd be the death of her... probably literally.

"So… let's say, mid exam, can we just quit?" Shikamaru asked hopefully. It sounded cowardly, but knowing Shika, it probably came from a place of extreme laziness. And consideration for Choji, Shikako certainly wouldn't want to hide in the woods for almost a week with an improperly nourished Akimichi, either. Also, escape routes and rescue points were the kind of ' **Key Mission Information Points** ' that Iruka-sensei drilled into them in the academy, especially when entering unknown territory.

"Of course not. In the middle of a battle you can't just quit. Well, I guess you could but it's probably going to get you killed." She shrugged, and went on to cheerfully elucidate on all the _fun and interesting_ ways a team could be disqualified. Like the death, or incapacitation of a team member. '...Anko might have earned her reputation the old-fashioned way,' Shikako conceded.

Then Naruto's curiosity got the better of him, _again,_ and he asked about the consequences of opening the scrolls. Apparently it was a bad idea, and one that they wouldn't be trying _Naruto_.

The candidates distributed themselves across the clearing to fill out their forms and discuss things with their teammates in peace, interestingly they formed loose congregations based Village allegiance. Except the Sand Siblings: no one was willing to get close to them.

Naruto, the lemming, was apparently going to wander off on his own, so Shikako grabbed both the boys and dragged them into the shade of the trees around the clearing. Not thick cover, but it would have to do.

Now it was just Gaara's team and hers that were removed from their comrades; Shikako deliberately didn't pause to consider what that might imply.

She quickly read over the form and scribbled her name on it, mind racing frantically, before turning to the boys.

"They're putting a curtain up over the booth," Shikako informed them hollowly. There was no one close by, but it wasn't worth the risk to try it.

She hadn't planned for this. What was she going to _do?_

 _How could she take the competition's scrolls when she couldn't even see them?_

Sasuke ruminated for a few minutes on the importance of stealing information, then frowned at the ground; lost in thought.

Shikako's thoughts raced, anxiously searching for a way to salvage her plans.

"What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asked, looking from one to the other curiously.

"We have to come up with a plan," Shikako explained absently, mind on the problem at hand. She did have _something,_ but it was far from guaranteed to work. "We need to find a way to know which team has what scroll and where they are in the Training Field. Otherwise, we could be wandering around for the whole five days and not find anything…" Well, other than whoever found them, and Shikako would really rather be the ambusher than ambushed, should worst come to worst.

Naruto suggested something, only for it to be rejected by Sasuke… but something about the byplay caught Shikako's attention.

"… unless…" Shikako said slowly, hands forming a circle. "Naruto… can your clones Transform into say… spiders? Little ones?"

"Uh, sure, I guess. Why?"

She was silent a second longer, two plots forming in her mind.

When she told him his part in the plot, Naruto was ecstatic. 25 tiny spider clones acting as a highly advanced spy network that could be set up in minutes and give them all the information they needed for this test? What's not to like? They should really find ways to use Naruto's Shadow Clones for every mission, it would make their lives so much easier.

Naruto stared for a second, then tucked his hands behind his head grinning like mad. "This is going to be so awesome! They'll never know what hit them!"

Sasuke smirked in agreement. "We're going to ace this test."

Shikako half smiled back at them, and hoped they wouldn't be too disappointed if 'Plan A' actually worked.

She could feel Naruto's chakra fluctuating and splitting, but there were no tell-tale puffs of chakra and she barely caught glimpses of orange from the corners of her eyes before they were gone. It looked like he was putting the plan into action already; and that Sensei's stealth training might have even more use than she'd dared to hope.

Shikako then asked Sasuke to make a copy of the map, and handed over a pencil and empty scroll from her missions' bag. It looked like their team was one of the few who had thought to bring them.

Still crouched down, Shikako reached out with her chakra sense, her last ditch shot-in-the-dark to rescue the scheme she'd been so proud of. And there! Under the buzzing rabble of active chakra systems, were the clear struck-bell not-sounds of active seals.

Sasuke made some comment on the usefulness of the map that Shikako only half heard.

She shrugged philosophically, still smiling at her own success. "Anything is better than nothing."

"Alright, everyone, we're going to start handing out scrolls now," the Chūnin announced from the booth. They'd given everyone a suspiciously long time to fill out a basic form, so she figured that they'd been unusually charitable and had given the teams this time to plan.

"Cover me, I have an idea" she muttered to her team, and hid her hands inside of her bag. It was _so much harder_ to get a fix on the scrolls without sight, but she managed it. It a little was easier than she expected, since she no longer needed to cast a Henge on them. Shikako was also very, _very_ careful about her targets. She avoided those who would eventually come to be called 'The Konoha 12' as well as the Teams associated with Orochimaru and Kabuto. The Sand Siblings were crossed off the 'Potential Victims List' too, and so was anyone else who looked to have enhanced senses.

After the initial surprised elation of it _actually working_ , Shikako carefully swapped out all four of her replacement-designated scrolls.

Three Heaven, one Earth. _'Perfect_.'

The boys eyed her warily as she worked, but were silent when she finally led them to the booth. Shikako had seen a few unknown passengers on people's clothes and resolved to use Naruto's information for avoidance purposes.

The Chūnin looked pretty bored as they flicked through Team 7's paperwork. They were nearly the last team in. After a moment he handed over a white wrapped scroll. Heaven, not that it really mattered at this point.

Sasuke took it and weighed it in his hand for a second, before handing it to Shikako. She blinked at him in pleased surprise and he nodded.

 _'Well, then._ ' She opened her jacket and tucked it into the inside pocket before zipping it back up. They could redistribute after the wardrobe change anyway.

 _Still_ , they were both very sweet. Shikako would bet anything that he'd done that to help with her nerves in some way.

"Listen up!" Anko shouted once the team behind theirs was done. "All the teams have received their scrolls, so everybody go to your gate and wait there. When the gates open, the test is on!"

Shikako noted the phrasing of that, and really hoped she wouldn't get her team into mischief by stealing the scrolls before the exam had even started. She'd probably be okay; this was _, after all,_ a ninja test.

By the time their gate opened, there was maybe five hours of sunlight left, probably less, given how unwelcomingly dark the forest already seemed. 'That should be enough _. Please let it be enough_ '

* * *

As soon as they stepped into the shadowed training ground, Shikako signalled the boys to follow her, and take up evasion drill 'Bird, Snake, Blue'. They didn't even hesitate. Her boys just suppressed their chakra as much as they could, and fell into line with her at the head of the formation.

After a little while Shikako directed them down into a small, dead space under an unusual Hashirama tree. It seemed to have added characteristics similar to the toxic Black Walnut tree, which might explain why nothing lived under it. Did it also excrete a respiratory inhibitor? 'Very interesting, but _now is not the time_ Shikako.'

After checking there were no foreign chakra signatures in their vicinity, Shikako emptied the scrolls from her bag, much to her teammate's amazement. Before they had time to speak, she opened her supply scroll; and divided the grey-brown-green generic ninja-ware between the three of them.

"Get changed" she ordered as she turned around and striped off her outer clothing. _'Really'_ Shikako thought sourly, hearing Sasuke choke behind her. She'd taken the time this morning to put a mesh bodysuit and a reinforced leather 'boob-tube and short-shorts' combo on under her usual attire: _specifically_ to cater to their modesty.

"Last night," She begins "I realised that we had likely drawn too much attention to ourselves during the first exam. So I got some generic, non-descript shinobi ware for us to change into." This seems to prompt the boys into changing, if the rustling of cloth behind her is anything to go by. She tells them to put their clothes on the supply scroll for re-sealing when they're done changing.

Continuing, Shikako says "It's only because of that replacement training we did, that I got the idea to make our lives a little easier. I just switched out some empty scrolls in my pack for the Heaven and Earth ones." Shikako twisted her hair into a bun and secured it under a dull green bandana before she turned to face the boys, adjusting her green-tinted blast-goggles.

They were fastening their weapons holsters back on with their backs turned. _'The darlings_.'

"I think it would be the best bet for you to secure a Heaven Scroll under your clothes, Sasuke; and Naruto, you do the same with the Earth scroll." Each boy turned around when his name was called; presumably deciding it was _safe_ to look now.

"Then we can all carry a Heaven Scroll in our weapons pouch, to use as a diversion if we have to." She paused, eyeing Naruto for a moment before adding. "Under no circumstances will we be opening _any of them_ "

There was no indication that Naruto heard what she'd said, or look offence to the implication. He simply stared at her in stunned awe. "Why," he demands breathless "Did you never come pranking with us?" then adds appreciatively "You're an evil genius."

A burst of laughter escaped Shikako then, and she felt at once relieved and flattered.

Timidly glancing over to Sasuke assuages the last of her fear. He looked surprised, but not mad.

"So, all we have to do now is get to the Tower?" He asks, after a moment. He sounded a little disappointed, maybe, but also very impressed.

Shikako reminded them that they shouldn't get comfortable just yet; there was still the chance of being attacked, or walking into a trap –not to mention the animals in here. _Predictably_ , they looked thrilled by the news.

Shikako sealed their packs directly onto the flesh of her arm, and then made the boys put their bandanas and blast goggles on. They weren't terribly keen on the idea.

"If you don't want to wear a disguise, then _maybe next time_ you can draw a little less attention to yourselves" She informs them mildly; but really, she's just thinking about how inconvenient it is that she can't just seal the Heaven and Earth scrolls directly into their skin like she did with their extra supplies. _'Oh, how the universe conspires against us_.'

Soon they're in the treetops again. Quick and quiet as shadows they avoid the wildlife (emphasis on wild) and use Naruto's Kage Bunshin network to keep out of the way of fellow participants.

They're less than half an hour from the Tower when the inevitable finally catches up with them.

Shikako faltered in her step, and paused; head up and scanning like a startled deer.

"What? Do you see something?" Sasuke asked, uneasily.

A splinter of flying wood caught Naruto across the cheek. He touched his cheek, startled. "Huh? What was that?" He looked in the direction it came from. There was nothing there.

But there was a huge surge of incoming chakra.

"Move!" Shikako screamed, leaping to the side. The boys followed suit.

Gale force winds ripped through the trees where they had stopped. She examined the destruction: fairly tightly controlled, like a cone of wind blasting from a single point.

Jutsu, her mind categorised. Wind Release, A-rank or above, the sheer destructive power could allow for no lesser rank.

 _'This is it.'_ Shikako thinks with dread, wishing it could be over already. _'This is how it starts'_

* * *

When the wind and the dust and the debris cleared, a woman's voice spoke up; directing two others to block Team 7's escape routes.

If they got the opportunity to run, Shikako would risk it in a heartbeat. _Whoever_ they were, they would be less dangerous than Orochimaru: there could no longer any question of identity.

Team 7 had to regroup. Divided, this fight would be nothing but a slaughter. Shikako carefully avoided the fact that _together_ , it would still be a slaughter.

Sasuke was on the other side of the newly created trench, Naruto was even further away.

Shikako made her way to Sasuke, and called out to him softly as she landed.

He was stunned, and panicked, and Shikako remembered suddenly that Sasuke was just a boy. Just twelve years old.

As calmly as she could, Shikako told him they had to leave. _Now._

He stared, then nodded. "We need to find Naruto. I think he got caught in it."

Orochimaru came to them then, disguised; but that hidden, muted chakra was nothing like the sunshine-breeze of Naruto's. It was easy enough to convince Sasuke he was an infiltrator.

Sasuke's kunai sailed towards him, just as Shikako's shadow lashed across the ground underneath it.

'Naruto' dodged nimbly, in a way the real Naruto couldn't have.

"Come out, whoever you are," Sasuke ordered. "Party's over."

'Naruto's face curled up maliciously. It looked wrong. Naruto's face was made for bright grins; not sly, smug smirks. "Aren't we the clever one." The Transformation Jutsu dispelled revealing the body of the Grass-nin which currently housed Orochimaru. "This promises to be very entertaining."

Then Orochimaru revealed himself to be a creepy stalker obsessed with Sasuke, and followed that up with eating his own Earth scroll.

'What a _terrifying weirdo.'_

Sasuke seemed to have realised that this was a fight they really didn't want to get into, and informed the Grass-nin that they didn't need to fight for her scroll.

"Ah, you have been busy. Already gaining yourself an Earth Scroll. That is impressive. Well, it doesn't matter. When this is over, one of us will have the scrolls, and the other will be dead."

His Killing Intent was indescribably awful. It was _knowing_ you were outclassed beyond your wildest dreams, facing an opponent who regarded you as little more than a bug. It was the kind of killing intent you would commit suicide to escape.

'Yes, yes.' She impatiently told the portions of her brain that were shutting down in fear. 'It's terrible. But Sasuke and Naruto are more important than that, and it's not even as bad as Kyuubi chakra. Get over yourself' the internal 'pep talk' didn't really help, but the flashback-whisper of Kyuubi chakra helped put things into perspective; and just thinking the names of her boys buoyed her faltering resolve.

Sasuke retched. He was shaking, shivering even worse than Shikako was. She had to protect him.

Orochimaru laughed, mockingly. "You're paralysed with fear. Prey in the gaze of a predator. How amusing."

Sasuke rose to the bait and drew a weapon, but Shikako remained still and watchful.

"Very good," Orochimaru said approvingly, voice aggravatingly calm. "Now what happens?"

The Killing Intent doubled.

The world pulsed, like being trapped inside a beating heart. 'Okay' she allowed herself. 'This is pretty bad.' She was drowning. Couldn't _breathe_ …

"Don't worry, I'll make it quick. But I don't have to tell you that, do I?" There were footsteps. The sound of kunai scraping against the side of a holster. "You've seen it with your own eyes."

It was impossible… She couldn't possibly stop him… they were going to die. _Sasuke was going to die._

… might seem suicidal… focus on the goal…

The goal. To protect.

The barest of dreams, of ambitions. Protect your soulmarks.

She had to act. Somehow… anyhow. Right now, _anything_ would be better than nothing.

"I expected you to be more of a challenge. How disappointing."

 **No.**

 _'That's not how this works,'_ Shikako thought savagely. This is not the way things are going to be.

She snarled, a cornered animal. Desperate, and dangerous in a way she had never been before. All her fear had become **will** , and she would use it to protect her teammate.

Muscles pumped full of chakra, Shikako embraced the familiar rush of energy, and flew forward: full speed, full strength.

It wasn't smart, but it was _something_. She was defending Sasuke, and that thought gave her all the courage she needed to act.

She threw a pair of kunai to deflect the ones thrown, and lunged forwards, sweeping around in a roundhouse kick. He bent, out of the way and swatted Shikako casually, like a fly, to the side. It wasn't even a proper strike, just a careless backhand wave that caught her square in the ribs.

Her chakra absorbed the force of the blow, but the enhancement was disrupted. Shikako flipped through the air and landed, panting. The pain, sharp and brief, had cleared her mind.

Supreme battle focus settled in.

Attacking like this would do nothing; she had to be cleverer than this, if she wanted to save Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Move!" Shikako barked with _Command_ in her voice. It wasn't the time for platitudes. No 'it's going to be alright'. No 'please, move'. No 'you have to'. This **wasn't alright.** They needed to react, fight. Or they'd die _right now_ ; lambs to the slaughter.

He needed to move _now_. And he would only respond to an order.

Shikako hurled shuriken and kunai, trying to distract Orochimaru, trying to provide an opening for Sasuke to move: she set her trap then, and Orochimaru didn't even care to notice. He flowed around her attacks, like they didn't matter; like she didn't even exist.

Unfaltering he walked forward. Unstoppable the same way a tsunami was.

Shikako saw, from the corner of her eye Sasuke stab his kunai into his leg; breaking the fear with pain. She caught his eye, and as one, they flickered away.

"An interesting move," Orochimaru commented. "Run, little mouse. Run all you want… there is no escape."

'No? What about _this_.' All around him, Shikako's _special kunai_ went to work. The electricity seals inscribed under their yellow wrapped handles discharged at once, and the area around him erupted into splinters and fire.

"We need to get out of here," Sasuke panted, as they crouched in the bend of a tree branch.

Shikako agreed vehemently "We run - Sasuke! Look out!" she shoved him in one direction, and leaped in the other as a snake – an unbelievably ginormous snake - crashed a head the size of a car through their hiding place.

"Unbelievable. I didn't even notice. I'm losing it," Sasuke muttered, eyes wide as he fumbled his landing, choosing a too thin branch. The snake only had eyes for Sasuke, and it wound around branches and trunks with ease to get to him; terrifyingly nimble and swift for such a large creature. It lunged again, mouth open wide. Shikako cursed herself for being too far away to aid him, and leapt closer.

"No! Stay away!" He cried out, panicked, as he threw shuriken at the beast. He must have gotten some hits in, because it reeled backwards and collapsed bleeding onto a branch.

And then its skin began to ripple and crack. Horrifyingly, _sickeningly_ , a pale body began to rise up from the corpse.

There wasn't a single scratch on him, and he hissed a laugh, as Shikako caught his eye "That was a clever trick, little Nara, but it won't save you. I sense your fear and desperation. It's only natural. The prey must never let down its guard, not even for a moment, in the presence of its predator!" He chuckled and lunged forward, body coiling and stretching like he was a snake himself.

Shikako moved, firing off more kunai and moving to intercept, her shadow gathering at her feet.

Sasuke screamed.

Then a second hail of kunai impacted on the wood, just in front of the missing nin.

"Looks like I came just in time."

Naruto!

Their chances weren't really any better now, but Shikako still _felt_ better.

"What took you so long?" She called up to him. "You better not have some lame excuse about a black cat crossing your path!"

"I got eaten by a giant snake!" He shouted back. "And let me tell you, the inside smells worse than the outside!" which was so _unintentionally Han Solo_ that Shikako had to let out a laugh: it was high pitched with fear, almost a cry, but it was still a laugh.

That was another lesson they'd learnt from Sensei - banter helps calm you down, keep you focused. A survival mechanism to keep things just a little _removed_ from yourself. Even gallows humour was humour.

Orochimaru was completely unperturbed, as if Naruto's appearance didn't effect a thing. Sadly, he was almost certainly right. "So, Naruto, you managed to escape from my friend. Well done."

"Okay, okay, I don't know what's going on here, but you've been picking on my friends and I don't like that. So you just better slither back into your hole before I make a pair of shoes out of you!" Naruto shouted back to the traitor: derisive and dismissive.

Could he not feel the Killing Intent in the air? Shikako wondered hazily. Or did he just not care? The latter was the likely answer, she admitted; a very 'Naruto' response to certain death and crippling fear.

"Clones!" she shouted suddenly, a vague plan materialising in her head. "As many as you can!"

"On it!" he chorused back a thousand times over, more shimmering into existence wherever there was space.

Shikako grabbed nearest one and whispered. "Transform into Sasuke and me. Then use Replacement to get us out of here. We're running, and I'm going to blow this place up as soon as we're clear. Hold him as long as you can" Her voice was full of _Command_ again, and she'd think about how felt about that **later** (the kind of later that means never).

It nodded once, stony faced, and dispelled. The reaction was immediate. She felt the tugging pull of a Replacement Jutsu and the endless homogeneity of the Naruto's brown-grey disguise faded away. She looked at the two figures in front of her with immense relief.

There was a Sasuke and Naruto in front of her; she assumed they were the real ones. "Quickly!" she hissed, darting in the direction she thought the Tower was in. She ignited the flash-bangs and explosives she'd thrown before, to buy them some time to escape. With her advanced warning, and the blast goggles, she hoped the Naruto's could hold Orochimaru for a little while.

Naruto demanded an explanation as they fled, and he didn't look convinced by the others pessimistic assessment of their chances.

 _'Please, we're so close…'_

They didn't get far before a tornado ripped through the air, ten times as violent as the first, it shot them all straight up into the air. Trees creaked and groaned, wobbling violently as they were uprooted. _That_ was what it meant to have real control, Shikako thought, to throw around A-Rank Jutsu, and still display only Genin-level chakra emissions.

"Shit," Naruto hissed. "My clones have all dispelled."

Sasuke trembled. "We have to… we have to…"

Then Naruto proclaimed that he wanted to stay and fight their Kage-level (actually, come to think of it, he was _legitimately a_ **Kage** ) enemy. He looked like he wanted to reach over Shikako to _shake_ Sasuke for having the good sense to run.

"We could give her the scroll," Sasuke muttered, wildly.

"I don't think he wants the scrolls, Sasuke," She said shakily, bracing herself for the stupid _reckless_ **desperate** thing she was about to do.

"Very true," a smooth voice said. "A sensible offering though. Sometimes, the helpless prey, if they are to save their own skins, must distract the predator with something even more precious." He slid around the tree, already ahead of them. _Toying_ with them, as he had been from the start. "But it doesn't matter. As far as the scroll goes, I could simply kill you and take it."

He sounded please with the idea, and bit down his thumb; smearing blood over the strange tattoos wrapped around his wrist. "Summoning Jutsu."

Another huge snake burst into existence.

 _'Yeah_ , well I know Summoning too' Shikako thought savagely. She caught his eyes again, and lifted her upper lip in a snarl. Orochimaru returned with a venomous, curious smile, and merely watched as she bet down on her own thumb.

Orochimaru no doubt knew that the Nara clan held a number of Summon contracts. What Orochimaru didn't know, was that Shikako was signatory to none of them. Shikako suspected that he would allow her to perform the Summon sequence, just to crush whatever pitiful creature a Genin could call upon.

'What a shame for him' Shikako thought insincerely.

The Uzumaki Tome had spelled out the Summoning Jutsu in exacting detail, including one little factoid she knew from Before. Those who hadn't already signed a contract before performing the Jutsu would simply be pulled to the lands of whichever Summons was most suited to them.

Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram, and then, in the fraction of a second before she slammed her blooded palm down, she looped her arms through her teammates' and latched onto them with her chakra.

She could see the moment Orochimaru recognised her scheme for what it was; his face contorted in rage as he darted forwards to stop her _. He was too late._

Shikako's chakra poured out of her to curl around the three of them, and the fabric of the universe _twisted_ , sharply, nauseatingly.

Then, just as suddenly, they were spat out into an entirely different forest.


	6. Chapter 6 Chūnin Exams Part 4 2nd Exam

Chapter 6 Chūnin Exams Part 4

Notes: Shout out to my beta, MathisMagic who is fantastic. Just to let you know: I headcannon 'Beyond the Stars' by FallTigerKisa. So. Hard. Also, I have sold my soul for money, and just started working in the insurance industry. As a result, the fic will update slower.

* * *

"God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." ― Terry Pratchett

* * *

Shikako lay gasping on not-quite-ground, and stared up at an 'almost' sky.

 _Everything_ was just slightly **off** here.

'Like someone broke into your house, moved _everything_ an inch to the left _and then_ repainted it all two shades lighter.'

The Chakra of this world is different in some fundamental, arcane way; it _pulls_ from her to sustain their presence here.

'I can't believe it worked!' Shikako thought in amazement.

She felt dizzy with joy as sat up, curious to see the world that suited her best out of all the Summon Realms in existence. She threaded her fingers through her teammates' as she rose, knowing somehow that sustaining them in this place would be much harder without physical contact.

It looked like Konoha; in the sense of it being densely forested at least. It had different kinds of trees and shrubbery though, in the way of a true forest – rather than the uniform mass of Hashirama Trees.

It was peaceful here, watching the sky darken with the first hints of night.

Then a giant, armoured beast galloped into the clearing.

Shikako could barely feel his presence, even now – his signature blended almost seamlessly with the sort-of-chakra that made up the alien forest. She wondered anxiously if there were more waiting behind the treeline.

Shikako stood hastily, pulling the boys up with her, and used their combined hands to clumsily divest herself of the goggles and bandana – she didn't want to offend the giant deer by concealing herself. Then, because she was with her 'marks, Shikako pooled her shadow at her feet.

She could not leave them undefended.

He (she deduced from the antlers) was a towering beast, the largest stag she'd ever seen. They weren't even as tall as his legs. As he strode towards them his spiked, metal tipped antlers glimmered dangerously in the dying light. He was clad in Samurai armour; plates along his neck and back, with a twisted demon mask over his head.

He examined Shikako closely, from a too short distance. Shikako fought the frantic urge to bow, and explain herself. This was an exceptionally bad time for cross cultural miscommunication – deer only lowered their heads like that when they were about to charge.

She was under no illusions of surviving head-to-head contact with this one.

"Daughter of the Forest," He proclaimed loudly, and the air shivered. "You are born of Sembei's tribe, are you not?" He must have been sure of the answer, because he didn't give her the time to answer. "Why have you come to us thusly? We left provision for her chosen heir to call upon us." This time he did pause, and he stared into her face with dark, fiercely intelligent eyes.

The stag was somehow more terrifying than Orochimaru's snakes; Shikako really wanted to stay on his good side. "Please forgive our intrusion, Shika-Dono" Shikako began, as formally as possible, wondered madly if a curtsey would be in any way appropriate.

Grasping hopelessly for a moment and coming up blank, Shikako decided to do the unthinkable: tell the truth. Those dark eyes would pierce any falsehood, she was sure. She was _also_ sure that she wouldn't enjoy what happened afterwards.

Shikako breathed in _so hard_ it made her sway on the spot, but the hands holding hers tightened supportively; and she found her voice again.

"My team was attacked by a traitor of our village. One you might know of as 'The Snake Sannin."

Naruto, blissfully ignorant, was merely confused by her claim. Sasuke on the other hand understood the implications of that, and stared at her with a kind of, dawning, horrified revelation; his fingers tightened around her own.

The stag also reacted her claim, tossing his head and stamping a foreleg. "I know of whom you speak. He is an abomination." ' _Harsh_ , but you know, probably true.' "I am to believe that _such as you_ , barley more than yearling fawns, could stand against that monstrosity?"

' _That's a fair point_ , well made.'

Shikako jerked Naruto's arm firmly when he fluffed up in offence; now was not the time to proclaim a burning passion to become the Hokage.

"No my lord, if Orochimaru had any will to kill us: we would certainly be dead. I fear his ambitions to be much worse than that" It was difficult to interpret the expressions of a deer wearing a mask, but Shikako thought that he looked… pleased? As though she had displayed some trait he found unexpectedly refreshing.

"I am Heijomaru of the Sika Tribe of the Deer, you may address me as such, Daughter of the Forest." He seemed warmer somehow, though he'd never been outright hostile, and then tilted his head: curious kitten-esque. "What is it that you fear from _that Shade_ , if not your death?"

"You honour me Heijomaru-san," Politeness seemed utterly essential at that moment. "One of my teammates holds a rare bloodline, and I have heard _whispers_ about what he does to such individuals"

This seemed interest Heijomaru, and he drew forwards to examine the three of them.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly removed their own headgear.

"I see the madness of the first-born within your heart, Moonchild." He addressed Sasuke "You would do well to ensure that you do not _destroy_ what you love, in the name of _protecting_ it" Sasuke stiffened at that, but whether it was at the advice, or simply being called ' _Moonchild_ ', Shikako couldn't tell.

"Sun-born" He addressed Naruto this time "Do not be swayed from your path. The time comes again for _all_ to be put to rights, but you must be strong of body and heart, if you intend to fulfil your purpose." Naruto gazed back, even more confused now than before, but thankfully he remained silent.

If Shikako were to have listed, in descending order of likeliness, of the probable outcomes of dropping three pre-teen ninja into the home of an unknown Summons clan… well honestly? Whatever _that thing_ was, that just happened? That wouldn't even have made the list.

Heijomaru, clearly immune to the awkward confusion his words had caused Team 7, continued to examine all three of them.

After an almost intolerable amount of time, Heijomaru started talking again.

"Yes, indeed. The scent of the Snake Clan is heavy upon you, most especially _you_ Sun-born"

Shikako heard Naruto start to babble about being eaten by one of them, and decided that introductions from their side were definitely in order now they weren't on the verge of being forcefully evicted; and also since he probably wouldn't drop the odd nicknames until he had _actual names_ to work with.

Before Shikako could draw breath though, Heijomaru was in her space. He snuffled against her stomach, and she couldn't help flinching away slightly – he'd nosed exactly where Orochimaru had caught her in the side.

"The _atrocity_ stuck you," The stag informed her, with a slow, deep anger in his voice. "It is fortunate his interests facilitated your survival."

It was probably the slow exhaustion of her chakra being drained that loosened Shikako's lips.

"It was worth it. Would have been, even if..." her words trailed off, prompted by the sudden pain of Sasuke's fingers violently constricting her own.

"It is natural for a warrior to face peril without regret, when they stand between that peril and their shield-brother" Heijomaru observed.

There was a brief pause lull in the conversation then, and Shikako hastily introduced her friends and herself. His ears seemed to twitch in amusement at her name, so she assumed he was familiar with Nara naming traditions.

"Nara Shika-ko" He began, and dammit he was _laughing_ at her! "Have you come to us, merely to _hide_ from your enemy?" as if summoned themselves by the plural, dozens of willowy frames and gleaming eyes were **suddenly present** to the Genins senses. They waited close to the tree line, antlers indistinguishable from branches. "Or do you wish instead, to form a partnership from which we will all benefit?"

Shikako pondered the offer, and processed everything she knew about deer – as a Nara, this was quite a bit.

Deer are gentle, but also strong and agile, with fundamentally wild hearts. In the mythology of this world, they were messengers of the gods, and companions to heroes and sages.

Shikako remembered then, the Old Tales of her last life. In her first tongue 'wilderness' meant: 'wilde doer' _or rather '_ wild deer'. They represented something both transcendent and earthly; a reminder that the planet upon which they stood was a celestial body in its own right. Noble creatures, who aided and inspired great quests. Oftentimes interchangeable in folklore with Unicorns, they were said to walk between worlds.

Everything in her said yes, but she had to ask one thing first. "What would be your terms?"

"As was our pact with your forebear, the chakra from your call is all we require. It allows us to maintain and strengthen our lands in the summon realm. We too are plagued by leg-less vermin" There was a silence and then, somehow, the easily fourteen-foot tall deer looked strangely… vulnerable. With visibly bated breath, he asked for Sembei's fate.

He perked up hopefully when Shikako told him that Sembei-baasan spent her days spoiling the youngest Nara children _almost_ beyond repair. When he requested to be summoned to her side whenever possible, any doubts Shikako had _melted with her heart_.

"I am humbled that you would hold me in such esteem, and I accept your terms whole heartedly"

An elderly Red Deer stag broke away from the rest, and made a stately progression of one to stand before Team 7; Heijomaru ceded his position to 'Gangō-Jiji' who was the Master of Rituals. Apparently it had been some time since anyone had just turned up unannounced; and there was a special ritual for a Summoner who was not the chosen successor of the previous one.

Gangō-Jiji was clearly very, very old. He was largely a silvery-ginger colour now; apart from the 'beard' of dark-grey/silver that wrapped around his muzzle and flowed down to his chest, just slightly longer than the rest of his coat. He stood so closely that Shikako though she could map constellations in the cataracts that blinded his otherwise pitch dark eyes. His antlers looked odd. They seemed to distort the remaining light, and were crooked in some unnatural way; with intricate grooves and carvings at made a million patterns and none at all.

Turns out there actually wasn't all that much ritual involved, Shikako just had to agree to not humiliate the 'Noble Deer Tribes, United Under Tōdaika-denka: _The White Hart'_ in a number of oddly specific ways.

The old deer then rolled his head strangely, and in the growing dark Shikako saw light spread through careful groves carves into his antlers, and they looked almost like - _Seals_. The mammoth Grand Summon Scroll appeared with a soft pulse, cradled in his antlers. When Gangō-Jiji tilted his head forwards, the scroll spilled out _just so,_ and stopped perfectly in front of Shikako.

Then Shikako signed her name in blood in the blank space after Sembei's, and pressed a bloody hand-print into the scroll; Sasuke'd had to move his grip up to her forearm to maintain contact.

Shikako then felt _something settle,_ and the strain of maintaining her form in a… not _un-physical_ exactly, but _physical-in-a-different-way_ world lessened massively. Like she was _welcomed_ now; a part of this world, like the deer.

"Welcome, summoner," Heijomaru said, suddenly _right_ _there_ as if he'd never been otherwise. He pressed his giant head lightly against Shikako's, then he looked seriously into her eyes. "You cannot keep your brothers here much longer, Daughter of the Forest."

"I know… I don't suppose you can you send us back a little further northeast of where we came from?"

The answer to that question was, to cut out a lot of waffle: yes. "To a greater, or lesser extent." Heijomaru caveated.

* * *

Shikako had burned out almost three-quarters of her reserves by the time Team 7 returned to earth, and she was _really feeling it_. She was only still conscious because she's managed to bring her reserves up respectably since graduation: apparently it was a natural consequence of working yourself into chakra exhaustion most days.

Shikako could feel the radiating hum of the collected Jōnin and Chūnin approximately 300 meters southwest of their position.

Immediately the shadow user motioned her team forwards, not willing to give Orochimaru more time to find them. He really had looked _quite_ mad when they'd left – in both senses of the word.

They'd barely cleared half-a-dozen trees when the team had to take evasive action _again_. This time, at least they moved as a unit; the boys crouched defensively on a thick branch, Shikako between them. She had actually intended to put Sasuke in the best defended position, but they'd both followed her trajectory and placed themselves to defend her.

Usually, this was a sound formation; both boys were strong close-combat types able to take on opponents directly while Shikako's mid-range jutsu ensnared them. These were not usual circumstances however, and defending her when Sasuke was in the sights of Konoha most dangerous defector (obviously not including Itachi, on account of his true loyalty), was _stupid_ and **infuriating**.

The Sound nin were loud, and smug and openly derisive. They informed team 7 that they were allowed to kill the others, but that Sasuke belonged to their master now. So _although_ Shikako couldn't take her ire out on her friends, three victims had willingly taken their place.

"Divide and conquer." she ordered Naruto and Sasuke. "They go down hard and fast. We need to get through them to the Tower. Avoid flashy, high powered Jutsu, we don't need more company." They nodded sharply in acknowledgement.

Shikako took Kin out first, as the boys vanished into the foliage to take their own arrogant sound nin down a peg.

After a couple of brief feints from Shikako and _a lot_ of trash talk from Kin, Shikako used shadow possession (and a hastily recalibrated Flash*without the bang* Seal, to counter the problems that came with the true-dark of the forest at night) to make Kin knock herself out. She left her enemy to tumble from the treetops; already moving to engage Dosu and back Sasuke. The small battalion of Naruto's obviously didn't need help.

He was a decent fighter, but he met a rather gruesome end shortly after the Narutos defeated the spiky haired one. His melody arm was a weird chakra forged weapon used to enhance his sound jutsu. He'd forced Shikako and Sasuke away from his immediate person by using it, pushing them both to rely in their mid-to-long range techniques. It was actually an accident, _what happened._ Shikako's special yellow-wrapped kunai was meant to cause Dosu pain, and drive him back into her trap. When the seal discharged against his metal arm, however, some kind of _… chakra dissonance_ occurred.

Fortunately, the resulting explosion of shrapnel found only one casualty.

"I didn't expect that. Shikako, did you expect that?" Naruto asked in morbid curiosity examining the epicentre, and then turned his gaze to the girl in question. His repositioned amber blast goggles changed the appearance of his light coloured eyes startlingly, she noticed. Shikako was feeling _a little tired._

"No Naru- Formation three, my 2 o'clock." The boys shunshined into place, and Shikako let fear mute her exhaustion.

Kabuto stepped out of the treeline looking sheepish, his teammates glowering from behind his back.

"Sorry if I scared you guys. We just heard the fight, and came to see. We woulda helped you rookies out if you needed it, but you didn't need it did you? What are they teaching you at the academy these days?" he laughed amiably, but it seemed a very flimsy disguise to Shikako. Like thin, brown cloth over a live blade.

Naruto began to relax, but Shikako spoke up. "If that's the case, then why were you here before the sound team?" She didn't _know for certain_ that they had been, but she'd felt someone observing them fight.

"I'm sorry Shikako-chan, you must be mistaken. We only just got here." He was a good liar, apart from his eyes: dark and sharp like tarnished silver.

"So I must also be _mistaken_ to think that you are keeping us here, waiting for your master to arrive. Mustn't I?" He tried at innocent for a moment longer, then dropped the façade with a smirk.

"Now _what_ would make you say that, Shikako-chan?" He asked, with dark interest.

"There's a name for people who know things they shouldn't," She replied, looking him dead in the eye. " **Traitor**." Shikako hoped that 'casually mentioning' him to her father last night, then dropping off the formal 'Letter of Concern' to the relevant authorities this morning (only this morning… _madness_ ) would have some effect.

"Is that all?" He asked with obvious disappointment.

" _Hardly_. You're no more a Genin than Kakashi-sensei _,_ just for starters. How _do you_ manage to go around with your chakra and compressed and twisted up like that?" She tried to keep him talking as she looked with deceptively lazy eyes for an escape.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then spoke. "Chakra hypersensitivity. Of course. What an interesting manifestation of an otherwise crippling condition. Now I want to cut you open almost as much as your teammates. That you could be as interesting as a Jinchuuriki and a Dōjutsu wielder is quite an achievement, little girl. Perhaps your last. Orochimaru-sama is quite livid. I do hope he'll let me keep your body for further study." He spoke, not really to her at all; and in a deeply unnerving, light, pleasant tone.

Shikako was _so very not_ prepared for a third round of combat, and sweat soaked down her back as she made her plans.

"Why don't I ask him now?" Kabuto asked mildly, and Shikako curled her lip at the feeling of the Snake-Sannin's muted chakra drawing rapidly closer.

Shikako didn't have a _good_ plan, and had depressingly few resources to command even if she could think of one.

She did, however, have a probably useless, very hopeful, _bad plan_. Shikako motioned the boys subtlety to cover her again.

When she deemed the traitor 'too close' Shikako split her attention between two endeavours.

The first was to curl her chakra into a spiral beginning at her voice box and ending in the tip of her tongue. She used the feel of the sound nins noise amplification techniques to fashion the ad hoc technique. Chakra to ears enhanced hearing: so why not give enhancing the vocal chords a shot?

The second was to recount the chakra flair pattern she had felt over and over again on only one night in her entire life: that of Hinata's failed abduction. Hopefully it meant something like: **Massive International Incident. Abduction Attempt** against the **Heir** of a **Noble Founding Clan. Send Backup.**

When she screamed 'Orochimaru is here' the sound was so amplified that it hurt both her ears and her voice box quite **fantastically**. To her mind, the chakra flair seemed to be lost behind the impossible volume of her call, but it found the senses of those who would have ignored the words as specious.

Shikako was genuinely _running low_ on chakra now, but there were over a dozen high level (hopefully friendly) signatures closing on their position; which made her feel a little better about the situation.

Orochimaru was too quick for them to _even attempt_ escape from his minions; they looked just as stunned at her audacity as she felt, so they might have stood a chance.

He erupted from behind the trees like a _wild animal_ , or a force of nature.

Other than that, there was no warning. One second he was several meters away, and then Shikako was flying through the air, body reeling from multiple impossibly strong blows. The only reason she was alive was because she'd enhanced her body as much as she could when she'd gotten a visual on the body snatcher. Shikako knew intellectually that she didn't stand a chance, but she didn't even see _Orochimaru_ coming, never mind the blows. She lay gasping and whining, draped on a branch of the tree she'd been fired into for a moment; just watching the world spin.

Hurtling through space at fifteen-thousand miles an hour, orbiting the sun at 18.5 miles a second, and spinning on its own axis at a thousand miles an hour.

Shilako had known these things from before she was born, but now she _felt_ _them in her head._

* * *

 **Sasuke was screaming.**

That was enough to break Shikako out of her head trauma induced daydream.

A distant portion of her brain catalogued the Sannin's words – "I suppose _this_ will just have to be your first test then, Sasuke-kun."

Anko had appeared, Shikako noticed with relief, surrounded by a dozen dark figures in white ceramic animal masks.

Anko also looked very, very angry. Almost _gleefully_ so.

She attacked with vengeance, throwing weapons and snakes and jutsu as she pursued him, and the grey-haired (suspected) traitor who had jumped to his defence, into the trees. The ANBU operatives flitted from one place to another in the dark, their strikes impossible to predict.

Shikako saw none of that though; she was much too pre-occupied with the burning sickness she felt through the second name on her ribs. Whatever the seal did, it was doing it on the level of the soul: Sasuke's soul was completely **Off Limits.**

Sasuke was still awake and screaming when she reached him, which while distressing, was also a relief.

Pulling down his collar, Shikako examined the still forming mark on his neck. _It hadn't settled yet._ This was an option Shikako hadn't even hoped for. The Uzu Tome had mentioned that the best (sometimes only) way to survive a fight with a Seal Master, was to halt their seals before they integrated into the environment (attempting to do so after was more difficult, and exceptionally dangerous). It was also a good way to stop a seal you are drawing incorrectly/developing from killing you. The Uzumaki did crazy things, but at least they did them with safety nets.

Sasuke didn't have the time for Shikako to take out her ink pots and brushes.

Begging another miracle off the universe at large, Shikako pressed a bare palm to the bite mark. The revulsion she felt as the tainted chakra touched her skin was nothing compared to the feeling of it pressing against her soul - she didn't even pause. She examined the seal: 3 part circular, an element for 'soul/spirit', nature, etc. and forced the last dregs of her chakra to arrange itself as a 'Mirror of Weakness' counter seal. It was fairly simple really, you didn't have to design the seal, just form it be the exact opposite of the seal you were countering: Lightning-to-Earth, Water-to-Fire, Physical-to-Spirit, Collapse-to-Storage and so on. She formed it through the hazy, nightlight chakra exercise Shikako'd been doing since she was a toddler. It had never seemed _so impossibly hard_ before.

But it seemed to work, and Sasuke stopped screaming.

Sasuke panted up raggedly at her, bleary eyes focusing again, and Shikako had never seen a more welcome sight. Naruto, who had been standing guard over the two of them, whooped excitedly.

Shikako's eyes then turned to the two remaining traitors.

The five remaining ninja seemed to realise their predicament at the same moment, and eyed each other side warily.

When Shikako signed Naruto for 'diversion/evasion' she was pleasantly surprised to feel the pull of the replacement technique. She and Sasuke reappeared still together in the arms of two Naruto's already in motion. She saw from the corners of her eyes flashes of extra Naruto's, hengeing and splitting off to act as a diversion. She was too wrapped up in suppressing the seal to even feel it.

"Naruto," Shikako whispered "we need to find a place to stop; I have to directly apply the seal. I can't hold this thing back much longer, and I don't want to know what it will do when it's finished."

 _As If by magic_ , they a found a small clearing. The fact that the clearing contained a ridiculously large bear was simply a minor detail.

Left handed Shikako despatched her last explosive kunai - it hit the upper chest rather than the throat, but then it detonated and...well, that bout of inaccuracy really didn't matter anymore.

The Naruto's settled them on a sturdy branch high up on the opposite side from where they came, and stood guard.

Below, Naruto had prepared the scene, with a Shikako-Sasuke pair and a troop of Naruto's to defend them. She would have to trust Naruto to deal with everything. Shikako was running dangerously low on chakra now, and couldn't delay applying the seal manually anymore. She pulled the brush and blood infused ink from their padded compartment in her left thigh pouch.

The probably-not-genin from Kabutos team were on them quick, so they must have had some method of discerning clones from originals. Shikako didn't see the battle, she only knew that after the sealing was complete, Naruto was the only one standing.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks Sasuke, you look like a fairy princess." Gods and mercy, her voice! She couldn't have sounded (or felt) worse if she'd smoked 40-a-day for the last 70 years.

He snorted a laugh at that, looking a little surprised when the movement didn't cause pain. Shikako felt a little slighted at that, but was ultimately too _shattered_ to care.

Sasuke brought them both down to the forest floor, _without even asking permission_ ; just slung Shikako over his shoulder and jumped down. Cheeky little shit.

Naruto looked heartbreakingly relieved to see to Sasuke upright and functional. He fawned anxiously over Shikako, and she had no quip to brush off his earnest "You don't look so good, Kako-chan" Naruto really was an adorable little fox puppy, but Shikako couldn't say that though: because it was _illegal_.

"She's burned out her chakra reserves dobe."

Strangely, Naruto looked incredibly relieved to hear that.

"So that means you can just take some of mine right?" He asked hopefully, raising two hands aglow with pure chakra. "Like with Kakashi-sensei in wave?"

Which was a _very good idea_ , why didn't she come up with that idea? It was so obvious.

Shikako's dazed pondering was interrupted by a small high-pitched female voice calling out.

"No, please. I can do that. I'm a medic, I was placed on this team to heal and supply them with chakra. But then the bear came, and why are the bears so big here?" The tiny redheaded bespectacled kunoichi (who Shikako hadn't even realised _was even there_ until she spoke) rambled on for a moment, but then drew back; likely to get to the point.

From her bound position next to the two unconscious Konoha nin, she straitened as much as she could. "I don't want to die here." she said firmly. "I will give you two earth scrolls and medical attention for my protection from now until we leave this graveyard!"

Shikako was having an unusually hard time following the conversation, but was fairly sure she had the gist. Also, there was something naggingly familiar about that girl.

"Show me how you heal," she told the girl – a grass nin, by her hitaiate – and one of the three watching Narutos cut the redhead lose and escorted her over.

Unsurprisingly, the boys threatened the Grass nin with dire and humiliating revenge if she so much as _looked_ suspicious.

Shikako pushed up the sleeve of her grey long sleeved shirt, and presented it to their prisoner. it seemed like a good place to start, some of her skin was painfully scraped raw by what Shikako could only describe as 'bark burn' thanks to Orochimaru's kind introduction of her person to that tree before. The worst of it was on the left side of her face, so Shikako was _really_ _hoping_ that it wouldn't scar if it got healed quickly enough.

Red eyes stared at her sceptically, and Shikako saw that the sealed portions of her arm were blank white circles against the red-purple-blue bruises.

'Oh. _Well that's not suspicious at all._ ' Shikako thought sarcastically.

* * *

2nd Notes:

Some of you may be disappointed by the animal choice, but for all the reasons I described earlier and more, I don't think anything else would be a fit.

Also, about Karin (yes, that is her), I didn't really mean for that to happen; it just sort of did… So Team 7 is running away? Obviously the 'Lucky Sevens' would find the only clearing with the Giant Bear in it. Where else would they end up?

Here is something I wrote, but doesn't really fit with the narrative, you can have it anyway; as a reward for reading the note :)

As Orochimaru turned to leave, his pale yellow eyes caught on pathetic, battered form of the Jōnin Commanders daughter as she limped desperately to her fallen companions. He considered, briefly, killing her outright. She had caused him some inconvenience, and even more annoyance, but he might need her death for the evolution of his next vessels eyes. 'A decision for another time', he decided, as his _darling_ former student rushed towards him.

***** Quote added 17/06/2016

It might seem like a bit of a non-sequitur, but it ties in to the determinism thing. Albert Einstein said that 'God does not play dice' because he didn't like the idea of indeterminism, the element of chance and probability that is introduced by the Heisenberg's quantum 'Uncertainty Principle'. What I'm saying here is that there are higher powers in this fic, both mortal and otherwise. Also, the 'who smiles all the time' thing was a perfect fit for the creeptastic duo of Orochmaru and Kabuto.


	7. Chapter 7 Chūnin Exams Part 5 2nd Exam

Chapter 7 Chūnin Exams Part 5

* * *

If you're going through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill

* * *

Karin, as she grudgingly informed them, was a good healer – though she had hesitated oddly for a moment, and made as if to raise her _own arm_ in return for some bizarre unknown reason.

Definitely a familiar name, but from _where_?

It was only after Shikako was transfused with chakra and otherwise healed that Karin was allowed to begin on the head wound; as now Shikako would be more able to protect herself from sabotage.

She did a very respectable job of everything. She didn't heal every injury to the fullest, but that was standard protocol; the issues that stemmed from over-healing were well documented. With the worst of it taken care of, and Shikako felt battle-capable again. She was still _unbelievably tired_ though.

Shikako had just one more question before she would let the girl take a look at her boys.

"Are you now, or have you ever been affiliated with the criminal known as Orochimaru of the Sannin?"

Outwardly there was no reaction to the question, but Karin's chakra suddenly halted, then began rapidly cycling through her muscles.

Shikako didn't even give Karin time to draw breath before she latched onto the other girls' shadow.

The boys took up defensive positions again, and a Naruto moved to apprehend Karin; but Shikako wasn't done with her interrogation.

Shaking with rage, and a little bit of exhaustion (the transfusion was a small one, as large or frequent transfers had long term negative consequences), Shikako turned all of her attention, honed to a deadly sharp focus, on the grass kunoichi. Karin attempted to shudder violently in addition to her struggles against the shadow jutsu, but she had no means to escape.

That _elusive something_ , and the fact that she hadn't tried to botch the healing at any point, was all that saved Karin from the full force of Shikako's protective instincts. If she could just get some sleep, everything would be so much easier, Shikako thought dejectedly – knowing full-well there was no rest in her immediate future.

"Do you mean to attack us in any way?" Shikako demanded sharply.

"No-n-no I swear, I-" Shikako cut her off.

"Do you have any orders whatsoever regarding my team?"

"No, I don't even know who you are, I promise" Shikako tilted her head, forcing the medic to do the same. It reminded Karin of the powerlessness of her situation, making her breath hitch, which cut off whatever the redheaded was going to say next.

"I am Nara Shikako" she said pointedly, watching diligently for any sign of recognition.

"We were only told to keep away from one team, the Kazekages children. Nothing else."

'Honesty so far.'

"Do you have any loyalty to Orochimaru himself?"

"No. No, I haven't done anything yet, never even seen him. His grass agents just recruited me, and I thought it could be a way to escape. Grass'll kill me, like they killed my mother. I'm not a _citizen_ or _kunoichi_ of grass, we came as refugees, and they'll use me up and throw me away without thought! I just want to live! To live and be free!" There was something in her voice that reminded Shikako of a young Naruto. Ignored and despised, screaming to the world his ambition with a voice caught between determination and desolation.

With that thought, the missing connection was made; and all Shikako's anger drained away. Karin the Uzumaki descendant, medic member of the Squad 'Hawk'. The Traitor!Sasuke's team of vengeful, misfit, science experiments.

The other girl was likely only being so open about her tragic past because she was hoping that Konohan bleeding hearts would save her. Unfortunately, as Shikako knew the story was true, it was _working_. Karin was, after all, an abused 12 year old refugee who _could be_ Naruto's family. Not just a book, but an actually _breathing_ clan member. Hadn't she been willing to fight Kakashi-sensei for some hand-written notes? Who would she wage war on for Naruto, so that he could have a family? Someone real, and living; who shares his blood, and heritage?

Shikako cut the possession, with only the faintest starlight to work with, it was too difficult to keep running for no reason. She brought her hands up tiredly to rub her face.

"If you betray us, I will kill you." Shikako sighed, because **why** did everything have to be so complicated?

 _How did this even occur?_ Nothing like this happened Before in the Anime or the Manga that Shikako could remember. How on earth was she changing so much? And in such random ways, as well? How is this Shikako' life? She wonders, but not really – because now isn't the time. _It never is_.

"But you should know that freedom is the very last thing Orochimaru would give you if he ever found out that you possess a bloodline." Karin looked more pale and panicked than she had under the shadow possession.

"Don't be afraid, I just recognised the sound of it in your chakra" Which, as a matter of fact she did. The same tinkling of gold chains was something she found in the echoes of Naruto's endless sunshine. Shikako tactfully omitted the fact that she had only just noticed it now with Karin's chakra for comparison. _Details_.

"If you're worried about us knowing, don't be. Uzu was a close ally of Konoha's from the founding. If you wanted another place to claim refuge, you would be welcomed here. We would even sponsor you; this team has a vested interest in having more Uzumaki in the village."

Two identical sets of puppy eyes rounded hopefully on her, and Shikako wondered how she'd ever missed the resemblance: take away the colourings and they might be cousins. There was just something to the shape of their eyes, and nose, and the set of their cheekbones. Not identical, obviously, but of a likeness.

"More Uzumaki in the village?" Karin echoed quietly, trying and failing for the impression of indifference.

"As I understand it, this one inherited his father's colouring, but his mother was Uzumaki Kushina" Shikako directed her head pointedly in Naruto's direction.

There was a long moment of silence and stillness and the two looked at each other in wonder, and Shikako realised her mistake. This was clearly _not the time_ to make any kind of deep, emotional connection to a hitherto unknown, long lost family member. They were practically in a warzone! With added giant predators! The two Uzumaki's would have to bottle their feelings up for perusal at a later date, just like everybody else. 'Or maybe that's just me... either way though...'

"Okay, sorry to break up this family reunion, but we need to get to the Tower, and we need to take those two with us; and we need to do it now." It really couldn't be put off. Not with live spies to hand off to T&I. Night had fully fallen, so the predators were out; but most sensible teams would either be holed up somewhere as safely as they could be. Or else they were executing/going to execute well-planned night ambushes. Very few would be waiting to drop in on anyone just randomly after dark. "There's no one out there tougher than the people we already faced today."

"Shikako's right!" Naruto exclaimed with cheerful certainty. "We need to get to the tower so we can win this test! And then we can get Jiji to make Karin-nee a Konoha nin, everything will be great! Dattebayo!" Shikako wished she could share Naruto's endless optimism.

Naruto took point on the way to the Tower, with Karin to his right just a little behind him, Shikako and Sasuke flanking on either side, and the four prisoner carrier/guard clones were spread out behind them. Naruto probably thought they were just letting him run next to his quasi-cousin out of _kindness_ or something. In truth, they were behind her because _they_ would be willing to put Karin down if she turned on them.

The fact that they didn't run into any trouble, whatsoever, on the way made Shikako feel deeply and thoroughly paranoid.

Once inside the tower, they opened two of the scrolls and a slightly mussed looking Iruka-sensei appeared in a puff of smoke.

There was a suspended moment of stunned silence as Iruka looked between Team 7, the Grass Kunoichi and the still unconscious and tied up Konoha traitors.

Eventually, Shikako took pity on their old teacher, and simply said "Iruka-sensei, would you flag down the nearest ranking security personnel. We have two spies for Orochimaru here, and that's Karin: she's Naruto's cousin and wants to defect over from Grass – probably."

Sadly, this didn't seem to improve Iruka's grasp in the situation, and he looked slowly between the battered bodies littering the entryway again.

"I'll just… go grab someone then… don't go anywhere…" 'Poor Iruka sensei,' Shikako thought.

Then she thought 'Poor _me_ , I know I'm not getting any sleep tonight. _He_ probably will though. Lucky sod.'

* * *

Iruka came back pretty quickly with two Konoha ninja in intelligence division uniforms who disappeared with their prisoners. Their old academy teacher then led them to an 'out of the way' meeting room to wait.

It turns out that Ibiki was _just hanging around_ out of curiosity for the 2nd exam, or some other implausible fiction Shikako politely pretended to believe. There was also a darkly dressed man in a cloth mask who remained unintroduced (except for Ibiki referring to him as 'my colleague'), as well as many unmentioned chakra signatures lurking in the shadows of the room. One of them felt distinctly like Kakashi-sensei.

Shikako was both unsurprised and incredibly relieved when her Dad slid into the room just as Iruka left.

Before anyone could speak up in the second after the door shut, Shikako stood (she hadn't especially _wanted_ so sit, filled as she was with the frantic energy of being overtired; but when the head of T &I tells you sit, you **sit** _and are grateful_ ) and bowed formally to her father. "Chichiue-sama, I formally request permission to personally sponsor Uzumaki Karin for asylum in our village" She saw her father drag lazy eyes perceptively over the four of them.

They'd agreed between themselves in the brief time after Iruka-sensei left on this course of action. Karin had hesitatingly agreed to request asylum on the grounds of bloodline prosecution/exploitation, forced enlistment (outside of wartime), and torture. Shikako had volunteered herself as sponsor, claiming that Naruto would be seen as biased, and that Sasuke (technically the Uchiha Clan Head as of graduation) doing it would draw too much attention to Karin. The truth was that both boys were highly politically charged for one unfair reason or another, and extra scrutiny (and/or prejudice) would come to the fore if either of them took the lead role on this.

Shikako though? She was in the perfect position. As a member of the military, she had the right to sponsor legitimate claimants. Shikako's status as the 'spare' in the Nara succession would protect her from backlash, and her low-rank would make her unworthy of notice on paper.

Shikaku agreed, then sardonically requested that someone escort 'Uzumaki-san' to the claims processing centre. Shikako had already explained this part of the procedure, and that Karin would be kept in seclusion while her request was processed. Standard procedure for defecting ninja – it kept them from attacking the village while their claims were being verified, and it kept them safe from reprisals from the village they had fled. At no point could she be officially questioned without her sponsor, but she could make statements and begin the paperwork while Shikako was finishing up with the exams.

A Chūnin proctor casually stepped down from the ceiling, looking a bit sulky, and motioned Karin to follow. She looked very nervous, but a glance in their direction seemed to put steel in her spine; and she followed with her head held high – presumably going out on a limb and trusting this village more than the one that raised her.

After bowing in thanks, Shikako returned to her seat.

"Now that there are no more foreign ninja in the room, why don't we discuss village security, and why I have two Konoha Genin taking up space in my department?" Ibiki growled darkly, glaring at them all.

For a second, none of them could think of where to start.

Finally Shikako coughed, and spoke up; trying not to shrink into her seat when Ibiki (and his silent companion) turned their laser focus onto her. Dad had been looking at her the whole time anyway, she knew, even if it looked otherwise.

"We were approximately 1.5 kilometres away from the Tower when Orochimaru first attacked us with an A Rank Wind Release Jutsu" Shikako began, but trailed off slightly. Somehow talking about it now in front of these people, was almost as nerve wracking as it actually happening. Shikako glanced through her lashes at her Dad; he was not going to be impressed by her use of the 'reverse summoning' clause. She could already tell.

Shikaku caught her eyes, and raised his left eyebrow slightly; Shikako shifted awkwardly and looked away.

Thankfully Naruto enthusiastically picked up the story form his perspective of being eaten alive by a giant snake. After leaning a shoulder supportively onto hers for a moment, Sasuke picked up the tale from their end. The infiltration attempt from Orochimaru, the passphrase that had revealed him, and his reactions after. Shikako peppered in her comments when she felt like something had been missed (like Sasuke's attempt to gloss over the fact that he had acquired a stalker), or when she needed to elaborate on her use of seals.

Ibiki interrupted before they'd even gotten to the part where Naruto made his dramatic entrance. "And just how were you three on your way to the Tower anyway? Must have been a quick battle for the right scroll," he noticed shrewdly "how do you know that wasn't planted?"

There was another long second of uncomfortable silence before Shikako reached into her various pouches and laid all her exam scrolls on the table, prompting the boys to do the same. The three adults stared for a moment at the 3 Heaven and 2 Earth scrolls on the table. Ibiki actually picked one up in disbelief. He sighed.

"What did you do to get all these?" Ibiki sounded like _he_ was the one who had fought the Snake Sannin.

Dad also looked unnervingly attentive.

"I used the Kawarimi Jutsu to swap out some blank sealing scrolls for 3 Heaven and 1 Earth scrolls. The other 2 Earth scrolls were ceded to us by Karin when we agreed to escort her to the Tower."

Ibiki scoffed "Nice try brat. It is _not possible_ for you to have snuck up on that many teams and seen their scrolls to swap them out! Not in that timeframe."

"Of course I didn't do that." Shikako agreed, locking her jaw against a yawn that wanted to break free. With no danger immediately apparent, and the resultant lack of adrenalin, Shikako was beginning to crash. "I didn't have to see the scrolls to swap them out. I could hear the sound of the active seals. I mean feel them. Sense the chakra of them." Her chakra sense had been developing very strangely indeed, she wondered if this was what synaesthesia felt like. She also wondered when she'd be able to get some sleep.

Ibiki looked acutely pained when he spoke up next. "You can hear seals?"

Something about the way he asked the question made Shikako uneasy.

"…Yes?"

Ibiki rubbed his hands over his bandanna, Shikako thought he might have been tracing the patterns of the scars; but she couldn't remember them well enough at the moment to say for sure. "How many seals can you- hear in this room?"

What is this? Shikako wondered. This was a debriefing _surely_? If Shikako had known that she would be expected to do _tricks_ , she would have asked for a larger transfusion from Karin. _To hell with the consequences._

"Uhhh…" Shikako stalled, trying to make her mind focus. "Not including ours, right? Five of the seven people in the room I can't see have seals that match yours, and Dads, and your friends." Here she tilted her head to Unintroduced-san, but was looking at Dad with a little surprise. Why does he have a seal? "But the one on my 5 o'clock above the cabinet has another seal that's interacting with it really oddly. It feels… nasty."

Shikako thought she heard a quiet scuffle behind her, but by the time she turned around it must have been over. "Update: only two people other people with your seal are still here. There is a privacy array around the room, strongly concentrated around the door and... Why is the table reinforced?"

Ibiki looked very much like he wanted to bang his head on it, so maybe that's why.

'Also, why does Naruto's chakra feel wired?' she wondered quietly, but since it wasn't relevant, Shikako kept her mouth shut.

"Okay, I've heard enough from you Nara." Here he paused to give Shikaku a sharp look, and Shikako's Dad stared back placidly. "Continue from Orochimaru appearing out of the corpse of the dead snake." He commanded Sasuke.

Obligingly, Sasuke continued with his account; though he also looked at Shikako oddly. She'd figure out why when she woke up. He described Orochimaru's creepy body softening technique, and Naruto's entrance (including her one-liner about Kakashi's terrible excuses) and then their failed attempt to escape via explosive seals, replacement, and mass shadow clone Jutsu's. As he got closer to the reverse summon, he kept glancing between his teammate and her father.

She patted Sasuke's hand when he trailed off short of describing her actions, and took over; sending Ibiki an apologetic look, then turned to look her father in the eyes.

"It was obvious that we had no chance of escaping; but then I remembered something I read about the other day." She paused to take a breath here. "I grabbed hold of my teammates and used Kuchiyose no Jutsu to reverse-summon us to the Realm of the United Deer Tribes." Here the three ninja opposite them simply stared at her in open disbelief. "Not that I knew where we were going before we got there – by anywhere was better than there, right?"

Kakashi-sensei's chakra was doing some very strange things, so Shikako turned her face to where he was with an expression of concern/question, as a kind of silent 'Are you okay?'. The only response she got back was Kakashi's chakra disappearing from her senses. She pouted at the ceiling with her saddest fawn eyes in reply and turned back to the Shinobi in front of her.

' _Oops_ , I was debriefing wasn't I? I should keep doing that.'

"Then they decided to let me be their summoner, which was nice. Then they sent us back about 2km _away_ from where I'd done the summons, which was also very nice."

She then continued to detail the very rude Sound-nin, who'd referred to Orochimaru as their master, and how they dealt with them. "It really didn't occur to me that it might just explode like that… I wonder what it was made of…"

Then she went on to Kabuto's intervention, determined to make this end quicker. She said about how they had tried to play nice, and when that failed, how the creeper had admitted to wanting to cut them all open, presumably in a scientific way. And then the screaming/chakra flair plan that she still couldn't quite believe had worked. Shikako made short work of explaining what happened after Orochimaru appeared for the second time – having spent most of it in a stupor.

' _Moving swiftly on'_

Shikako continued on from Sasuke starting to scream, and then Anko and the ANBU arriving, and then them fleeing to a clearing.

She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open now, and rushed to get the last of it out.

"So I blew up that really ginormous bear, applied the Seal of Mirrored Weakness to Orochimaru's hicky of death, and Naruto defeated Kabuto's teammates. Then we met Karin, who healed me and gave me a chakra transfusion, which is only one of the reasons why I think she should be accepted into our village. Then we came here, and had this meeting. And I understand why, but I'm really tired now. Shikako out…" She had stopped holding herself up at some point (Sasuke had kindly taken up the duty for doing it for her), and her eyes had closed a few sentences ago, but she'd gotten everything out.

"Dearheart?" She heard Dad call from a distance away, and then his arms were around her; lifting her up. If Dad was there, then everything would be fine, and she could sleep now. She told him so; and that was the very last thing she remembered until morning.

* * *

Shikako returned to consciousness silently, stretching out her senses while remaining otherwise motionless. When she discovered she was alone in a seal-muffled room with her just her boys, Shikako groaned miserably and curled up tighter.

What had she _said_ last night? And why had no one _stopped_ her?

Also, she was pretty sure she had just admitted being able to sense ANBU tattoos (and probably ROOT ones too) to the head of T&I. She'd only realised she could sense seals that day, and now _everyone else_ knew as well. _Marvellous_.

 _Bloody hells_ , what was she going to do? Other than hope that her Father could keep this quiet. Her Father, who is/was an ANBU member himself.

Shikako was drawn from her self-remonstration by a soft "Shikako, you're not hurting are you?"

She opened her eyes, and failed to comprehend what she saw. She could catalogue what she saw obviously. Overturned metal bedframes and carefully positioned mattresses and bedclothes. Her brain simply declined to comment on the matter - probably on the grounds of protesting unfair treatment. After a moments prodding, it produced a one word answer: Pillowfort. Choosing to ignore _that_ for the moment, Shikako turned to Naruto.

"No, I'm just thinking about yesterday. I'm okay." This was only slightly a lie, Shikako was feeling pretty rough.

"Yesterday was really bad" Naruto agreed solemnly "We've been taking turns to keep watch. Your Dad said we would be safe now, but still…"

Shikako understood completely. What she didn't understand was why she and Sasuke were curled up on a single mattress on the floor, and… what looked like eight bunkbeds were arranged carefully between them and the only entrance to the room. Then she thought about it, and understood all too well. 'They felt _unsafe_ ' she realised sadly, despite knowing that it was probably an advantageous development.

"You know." Naruto stated, she sounded more subdued than she had ever heard him before.

There was no question about what he was referring to.

"For a while now…" Shikako confirmed, because now was the time for feels apparently. She reminded herself firmly that this wasn't as bad as Orochimaru, and pressed on. "This village owes you a lot Naruto. I didn't say anything, because it's got to be your choice to talk about it."

"Really?" He asked, looking painfully hopeful.

"Obviously, I'm not some idiot who would let their judgement be affected by something like that. You're my teammate Naruto, I _know_ you, and nothing will ever change that fact." Oh god. Are those tears? Change tactics. _Now!_ "So whaddya say we wake up Moonbeam over there? He needs care instructions on his new seal. Also, yours seems a bit off, are you feeling okay?"

Naruto was still choking on a laugh when he explained that they'd have to wait to get professional treatment until after the 5-day-test, unless they wanted to potentially forfeit the competition.

Shikako hummed in acknowledgement as she began prodding Sasuke awake – she wasn't kidding about the seal maintenance thing.

* * *

By the time the team had left their room in search of food (and a shower, good god, Shikako needed a shower), the boys had two new 'terms of endearment' for each other. Moonbeam and Sunshine.

For some reason, Shikako thought this was **hilarious** , and the boys were bitterly disappointed that they couldn't think of a play on 'Daughter of the Forest' that didn't insult their entire village.

They were still bickering about it when they bumped into Kiba.

" _You guys!"_ he exclaimed in disbelief " _You_ beat us here?"

He looked even more disbelieving when Shikako explained her use of the Replacement Technique. "Why didn't I think of that?" He whined pathetically, and Shikako empathised perfectly.

He agreed with some confusion to her request that Team 7 move in with them; but she just fobbed him off with some excuse about not wanting be alone with that sand team. "Safety in numbers." she'd said.

Sasuke had informed her before they left that anything regarding Orochimaru was considered 'privileged information', and was not to be shared without explicit permission.

The next four days were suspenseful, and since Shikako didn't believe in wasting time, Teams 8 and 7 (begrudgingly in the cases of Kiba and Naruto) followed her example of low-impact exercises, and book study (from the small library Shikako brought on her person).

They also shared some of their intelligence gathering, but not too much – such was the way of things in Konoha when you were both comrades and competitors.

Shikako even got a few hours of 'dispensation' to see Karin; to check up on her and sit in on her interrogation. As a show of good faith the Uzumaki even agreed to a mind walk as long as it was done by Inochi. Shikako had explained that the man was practically her Uncle, a part of the extended Nara family, and could be trusted implicitly. Shikako was very happy to report to Naruto after being escorted back that everything seemed to be going smoothly.

When Team 10 arrived, they were easily taken in to the shared bunk room and quiet training sessions. Everyone took great care to avoid the Sand team.

They were politely distant to Team Gai, the nine of them having agreed almost immediately that there was enough crazy going round at the moment without any help from that lot (well, not Hinata, but only because she was too nice to say it out loud).

About an hour before noon on the final day, three Rain nin in matching ugly yellow jumpsuits paraded smugly into Tower.

Shikako examined them as they lined up before the Hokage, recognising them as one of the teams disqualified from her 'victims' list due to probable extra-sensory abilities. There were no _truly blind_ ninja, after all.

In any case, they seemed fairly week, and likely wouldn't cause too much trouble in this crowd.

Shikako turned her eyes to the front, squared her shoulders, and waited for everyone else to be surprised by the preliminaries; as if 6 teams left over from 26 wasn't enough of a reduction.


	8. Chapter 8 Chūnin Exams Part 6 Prelims

Chapter 8 Chūnin Exams Part 6

* * *

As before: some plans and dialogue, and the like, have been lifted from DOS. Enjoy.

* * *

"Strong people don't put others down... They lift them up." ― Michael P. Watson

* * *

Shikako stood in formation with the rest, watching the spectacle unfold before her. The Hokage front and centre, Exam proctors beside him and the Jōnin sensei behind him.

All the Konoha Jōnin sensei of the successful participants were present, along with others. As was Baki, the Sand Jounin; and next to him stood, a tall man with light brown hair, and square glasses. The latest iteration of Orochimaru.

 _'_ Won't he be _terribly disappointed,'_ Shikako thought vindictively to herself 'When he finds the seal didn't take.'

It was painful to stand there, unmoving with the traitor so close; and have to listen to the kind of tripe their ' _Dear Leader'_ came out with. Each on their own would have been painful, but to not respond to either in tandem? It took almost more than she had.

She pressed her lips together to keep from baring her teeth, the way he talked about throwing away the lives of children. It made her **sick**. As though the destruction and death caused by this exam was any less ' _meaningless_ ' than deaths caused by war. He was an elegant orator, sure enough, but that didn't change the content of his speech. At least he varied his approach, national pride one moment, advertisement and open market competition the next, before continuing on to talk about 'worthy dreams'. She didn't _hate_ his man, be she wouldn't be crying at his funeral.

Tenten spoke up then "Why did you say it was about 'international friendship' before, then?" she demanded.

"This is a custom where balance is preserved by fighting and dying," the Hokage replied. "In the world of the shinobi, that _is_ friendship."

Tenten, like so many others, had forgotten that the Third Hokage was a wartime leader. For all that the traditionalists complained about Konoha being soft, and the Third being peace-loving; this was still a military dictatorship. The cuddliest and fluffiest around: one with advisory councils, and protection for civilians; but it was undeniably brutal at heart.

When Gaara quietly voiced his impatience, it was their first point of agreement between them so far. There really was too much bullshit floating around.

Hayate Gekko, proctor of the Third Exam knelt before the Hokage and deferentially requested to speak. Servility wasn't something that appealed to Shikako's sensibilities.

The Hokage granted his assent.

The first thing Shikako noticed about Hayate was that he looked ill, even before he coughed. With dark bags etched deeply beneath his eyes and pale skin it was especially pronounced. The coughing was short and light though, and most likely didn't interfere with his breathing too much.

He introduced the preliminaries without fanfare or apology; going so far as to claim an exam that had taken the lives of serval, was _too easy_.

Shikako listened to her brother complain, comforting and familiar.

Then Shikako felt a sudden pulse, the unintergrated seal on Sasuke's neck receiving a burst of fresh chakra from its source. Sasuke twitched and clenched his fists against the pain, but Shikako could feel him reinforcing the seal all by himself. When she interlaced their fingers momentarily, it was merely an act of solidarity. Sasuke was strong enough; all Shikako had to do was give him the right tools, the right opportunities, and he would choose the right path. Shikako trusted him.

That she had gone over the components of the seal with him also probably helped; no one wanted any kind of seal on them that contained the kanji for both 'Consume' and 'Soul'.

Everyone stood motionless.

"Alright then. We will now begin the preliminary round. There are 18 of you remaining, so we will need nine matches. The surviving candidates from these matches will move on to the Third Exam."

'Well no shit Sherlock.' Shikako thought, feeling _perhaps_ unreasonably agitated and intolerant.

He outlined the rules, and informed them that the mechanism to choose competitors was random – which Shikako would be any money was a lie, because **hello** _ninja._

It didn't make sense otherwise: this was a publicity stunt, and they only wanted the strongest and most interesting competitors to get through. They would pair the 'strongest' against the 'weakest' to separate the wheat from the chaff; with possible exceptions for reasons of politicking.

That is why Lee got the worst possible matchup. Some ignorant, unknowingly cruel idiot behind the scenes only saw a clanless chakra cripple, and decided that he would make a poor showing. They threw him carelessly at the 'strongest candidate', and washed their hands of the matter; indifferent to Lee's dedication.

* * *

The board flashed and blinked before settling onto two names.

 _Sasuke Uchiha vs. Kagari_

"They didn't waste any time," Sasuke muttered.

Shikako leaned fractionally closer and whispered "Low-to-medium level chakra stores, probable sensory type, earth natured, I think."

Sasuke simply nodded.

Everyone cleared off to the upper balcony in short order. The rookie nine closed ranks almost immediately, taking up a whole side of the platform.

"Kakashi-sensei," she greeted, moving to lean against him as soon as he was close enough, curling her arms between them out of sight.

"You won't believe what happened in the Forest." Naruto said, folding his arms looking both incredibly pleased and demoralised at the recollection.

Sensei chuckled. "I've heard stories," he said. "And it looks like you've had it rough."

"We got totally beat up," Shikako agreed easily. "I'm lucky I got my face healed right away, or I'd or have to wear a mask like you, and then everyone would laugh at me."

Carefully, _discreetly,_ Shikako tapped out the code that would reveal the traitor to her Jōnin sensei.

Kakashi-sensei laughed easily, despite turning to stone beneath her hands. Hidden within playful banter and casual mockery, Kakashi-sensei passed along her message.

Naruto missed the undertone completely, and Shikako hoped that Orochimaru did the same.

"Yeah that would just be too _weird._ "

Shikako hummed, but her eyes fixed on the commencing fight. She could feel the pulsing of trapped seal, and Orochimaru's suppressed chakra writhed angrily but remained largely muted. Orochimaru didn't appreciate his _toys_ being taken away, _now did he_?

Still, the pain was clearly a distraction; and Shikako was very relieved that his opponent wasn't skilled enough to take advantage of the Uchiha's occasional lapses in form.

On the other hand, Kagari was attempting to use Genjutsu against an Uchiha with an active Sharingan, so Shikako didn't think the match would last much longer. The fire and oil thing was interesting, but again, _Uchiha_. It was practically an act mercy when Sasuke finished it, kicking the Rain nin hard into the nearest wall. He didn't get up, and Hayate called the match.

"I'll be right back, kids. Asuma, could you…?" Sensei murmured.

"Yeah, I'll watch out for them," Asuma-sensei agreed. "You best get down there."

Kakashi-sensei hummed before Body Flickering down to stand behind Sasuke. They had a short conversation as the medics came to take Kagari away.

Sasuke flicked his fingers at his two teammates as Kakashi took him away. Not official Konoha sign language, but a lazy, Kakashi-influenced bastardisation. Highly simplified, it simply meant 'clear'.

"Let's move on to the second match," the proctor said quietly. The board flickered and eventually chose two more names.

* * *

"The second match: Temari vs. Tenten!"

When Tenten made her way passed, Shikako murmured, just loudly enough for the older girl to hear.

"Take care, she's a wind type."

Tenten was still going to lose, but she might be able to keep hold of a little more dignity this time. And Shikako felt bad about excluding her from the previous information networking sessions on account of her weird teammates.

Her footsteps faltered briefly, so at least Shikako knew her message was received.

It was pretty much a slaughter. And nothing Tenten could do helped. That was the problem with overspecialisation, Shikako thought, perhaps a touch pitilessly. Still, Tenten made a decent showing after she switched to some highly respectably Taijutsu. Unfortunately, Temari wasn't a slouch either, and she had a penchant for using her fan as a bludgeoning instrument. Still, it went better than it otherwise would have, so Shikako counted that as a win. She somehow doubted that Tenten did, though.

"Winner: Temari!" Hayate called out, then coughed. _Again_.

This was a particularly brutal matchup, and it put her in mind of two others from Before. They would be worse **by far.**

Shikako closed her eyes, and raised her hand to cover her shoulder briefly. Just under the combined Kiba/Akamaru soulmark, two silvery names had appeared; she'd had to sneak off last night to cover them up. Shikako reflected on what was to come, and what she had done to try to help Hinata. The titbits of advice and encouragement given could do nothing to stop what was coming: if only because Hinata already had the power to do so. Before, Hinata had stood there and let her cousin almost kill her, _probably would have let him kill her_. While Neji had mocked and derided her weakness, Hinata held the power to kill him with the seal on his forehead, and had **chosen** not to use it. Shikako had the terrible feeling that Before was going to repeat itself here and now.

* * *

 _Kankurou vs. Aburame Shino_

That was a bit of a surprise. Shikako thought about the implications of that choice. Maybe they didn't want all of the Kazekages' children to go through uncontested? Or at all, seeing as Shikako couldn't call the outcome herself. Shino probably had fair odds though, with his bugs he would probably be able to differentiate between the puppet and puppeteer at least.

It wasn't quite as straightforward as it seemed. And this was one of the exceptions to the strongest vs. weakest rule. Shikako was anxious to see how this played out.

To distract herself while the contestants moved into position, Shikako tried to work out who would be fighting who. Naruto was the trickiest, no one who though Rock Lee was weak would be able to accurately gauge Naruto's strength. He should be up there with Gaara, but Naruto didn't have nearly the access to his prisoner that Gaara did. Best to base it off Before, so Kiba… maybe Chouji.

"Naruto," She whispered, "you'll probably face Chouji or Kiba. Start planning."

He frowned thoughtfully, but didn't question her assessment. On the one hand, that was very flattering, because it meant he trusted Shikako. She just hoped part of that thinking was him trying to figure out her methodology quietly to himself. 'Yes, I understand how unlikely Naruto doing _anything_ _quietly_ is.' She told the snarky, worried part of her brain.

"What do you think?" He asked voice hushed.

When Naruto admitted to his chakra still being messed up, Shikako pressed her lips together thoughtfully. Eventually she directed him to find some way to impede his opponents.

Shikako paused in her analysis to watch the match. Kankuro had failed to defeat Shino with The 'good ole' switcheroo', but the bug user had suffered heavy losses due to various poisons; though he was at least unaffected himself. Still too close to call.

"Momentum," Shikako told Naruto, splitting her attention evenly. "momentum and spinning. That's the big thing. If you can bog them down or tie them up, you'd probably win… how's your supply of ninja wire?" Naruto didn't use ninja wire so much, but he saw how his teammates could use it to great effect.

Naruto grinned madly at her, and Shikako almost felt sorry for his opponent. Life was about to get very unpleasant for somebody. "I know exactly what to do," he said.

Behind him, the match drew to a close. Shino had turned his battle into a war of attrition, and with his allies syphoning off Kankurou's chakra in addition to precisely aimed Shurikenjutsu; his opponent just couldn't keep up with the pace.

Eventually, when the cat eared boy was panting on his hands and knees and unable to sustain the chakra strings from his puppetry, Hayate called the match.

It had been a good one to watch.

* * *

Shortly afterwards Kakashi-sensei stepped out of Shunshin directly behind them. His chakra seemed… _diminished_ , and agitated. Unpleasant white-noise static. He also looked even more ruffled than normal.

"Where's Sasuke?" Shikako asked worriedly. She understood having someone more experienced checking over the seal – but why did Sasuke not come back with him? With cold dread, Shikako realised that she'd been too wrapped up in the matches, and had lost track of Orochimaru.

Her heart stuttered as she turned to pleadingly up at sensei, tearing her graze from where she'd last seen the snake.

"Don't worry, he's fine, but he's been put under guard by the ANBU."

Shikako eyes shut against her will, and she leaned back against the rails, boneless with relief.

"Our friend from across the way was pretty disappointed that he didn't leave a mark, so we decided to be extra careful."

So Orochimaru knew that cursed seal wasn't working properly. That was probably a bad thing.

"Next match," Hayate called. "Uzumaki Naruto verses Akimichi Chouji!"

"Finally! A chance to show what I've got!" Naruto shouted excitedly, breaking the tension neatly.

"Let's have a good match." Chouji offered, making his way towards the stairs nomming down the last of a pickled bean bun.

"Yeah. Let's go all out!" Naruto called back excitedly, before turning to Shikako holding up a familiar canteen. "Mind if I borrow this?" he asked.

She tilted her head, wondering at his plan as she hummed in agreement. "Help yourself."

"Sorry Chouji," Naruto said as they squared off on the floor. "But I'm not goanna hold back, so don't take it personally when I blow you away."

"I wouldn't be so sure of victory, if I were you." Chouji returned mildly, crumpling the empty packet away into a pocket and straightening to his full height. Not exactly trash-talk, but probably as close as the good-natured boy could get.

Hayate called the match to Begin.

Immediately, Chouji swelled up to several times his usual size and began bulldozing the area; chasing after Naruto with the ferocity that came from being bribed with all-you-can-eat barbeque.

Naruto wasn't as fast as Shikako or Sasuke, but he was more than quick enough; demonstrating the genius of the Ino-Shika-Cho triumvirate. All that power was _useless_ if he couldn't even hit a moving target.

Still, Shikako was worried. Naruto seemed to be trying to tie the Akimichi up with ninja wire, but the human meatball tank was plucking the kunai they were attached to from the ground and wall as easily as if they were daises.

Naruto seemed to change tactics after several failed attempts to ensnare the larger boy. He stood with two canteens in his hands, and with a casual flick, he popped off the lids and threw them halfway across the room.

"Hidden in the Mist Jutsu!" He called, hands flying through the seals. His chakra spiked and poured out more concentrated than it normally was for that jutsu, perhaps to compensate for Orochimaru's meddling. The resulting mist was a thick white blanket over her senses, covering almost the whole room. Shikako hoped he'd found some way to navigate and track inside the Jutsu.

Dozens of Naruto clones appeared along the perimeter of the room, all of them reaching to pull taught the ninja wire that was strewn about.

Inside the mist it Chouji must have been trapped like a fly in a spiders web, and some Narutos jerked and strained, using chakra to keep their ground.

One Naruto jumped out of the mist, standing against the wall he began to make a familiar set of hand seals. "Lightning Release: Radiating Shockwave!"

It was massively overpowered, and if he was anyone else, that stunt would have required some serious healing for the damage it caused to his hands. Lightning danced beautifully through the mist, the water molecules diffusing the light in an almost ethereal way. There were points where it sparked up, violently, impossibly bright. Shikako thought that was probably from the ninja wire. Left and right the clones all began to explode as the electricity was channelled down the wire into them.

Radiating Shockwave, it is to be noted, wasn't meant for this kind of wide scale effect. It should simply produce a wide wave of lightning that arced around the user, Naruto was pretty lucky he hadn't electrocuted himself _to death_ by overpowering it to such an extent. Using the mist and ninja wire to increase its range was an excellent strategy though, and Shikako resolved to buy him a bowl at Ichiraku's for thinking it up. 'Positive reinforcement, _and all that_.'

When the obscuring mist cleared, they all saw the Akimichi heir lying face down in the middle of the arena, still twitching with loops of wire wrapped loosely around him.

Naruto was panting, but injured or tired. Picking his way carefully across the wet, wire covered floor, Naruto reached out and turned Chouji over, detangling him the worst of it.

The downed shinobi just groaned miserably in response, and when the proctor called it, Asuma-sensei leapt down and helped him over to the medics, murmuring consolingly the whole time. Shikako rather suspected Chouji would be getting his barbeque anyway.

Shikako cheered brightly after she was sure neither boy was damaged beyond repair.

"Is that…" Kiba demanded wide-eyed "really Naruto…"

"It's not _that_ surprising," Shikako told him "We've had a bizarre couple of months, but it taught us a lot."

Shikako stepped easily into Naruto's enthusiastic bear hug, congratulating him – and offering him one bowl of his choice at Ichiraku's, just like she'd promised herself.

He started spinning them on the spot then.

"We're all really surprised," Ino said. "You're not the same kid from the Academy, anymore."

"No way! And you better believe it!" He grinned at her.

* * *

 _Nara Shikako vs. Oboro_

"Looks like I'm up," Shikako told Naruto in a chirpy voice, disengaging from his remaining half-hug, and making her way down.

Oboro started their match by telling her to quit. "I'm not afraid to hurt little girls you know." He'd informed her with a voice muffled by a rebreather that still managed to sound mocking. "Why don't you just give up now and save yourself some pain?"

With a false smile Shikako told the other nin not to concern himself over her health. "You won't be able to hurt me Oboro-san, don't worry"

All honeyed sweetness and fawn eyes, Shikako plotted his humiliating defeat.

'He has _some skill_ ' Shikako grudgingly admited as she casually weaved around his, and his Water Clones, blows. He'd tried to use some variant of her Yin Release to alter her perception of his movements. If it had worked, then his passable (if slow) Taijutsu style, with added support from the clones might have meant trouble. As it was, Shikako let him wear himself out raging against her. Suddenly Shikako understood why Kakashi-sensei did this: it was immensely satisfying. Her decision to mimic the lazy motions of his not-really-Taijutsu Avoidance Dance was a good one; it annoyed Oboro even more than it did Naruto and Sasuke.

Eventually, he used a Genjutsu to cover his sinking into the ground, leaving his clones to keep up with the attack.

That was actually very impressive; Shikako certainly couldn't move through solid stone. That indicated mastery of the technique, and probably an affinity too. For a second, Shikako started to purify her chakra for a lightning jutsu, when she realised that she didn't especially want to be close to the wet ground while playing with electricity.

Instead, she simply jumped into the air, tossed a newly created Lightning Kunai (it was indistinguishable from the others visually; being able to taste the different tenors of seals was a massive boon – colour coordination was _a bit obvious_ after all) into the floor were Oboro was hiding.

It was a very exciting result. The ground immediately around the teen shattered into rouble and dust, and the clones vanished immediately.

The medics fished him out as Shikako made her way back to the cheering rookies.

First bumping with Naruto and Kiba, Shikako let their chatter wash over her, returning Shika's lazy smile.

* * *

"Next Match: Inuzuka Kiba against Nara Shikamaru"

The lazy smile vanished immediately, replaced with a look of half- lidded despondency. Hopefully he turned to a highly amused Asuma, only to be literally kicked over the railings by an enraged Ino.

It was a forgone conclusion, as far as Shikako was concerned, but it would be fun to watch.

"Who do you think will be victorious?" Shino asked from Shikako's left side, looking surprisingly well for someone fresh from battle. Hinata clutched the railings and peered down anxiously at the two fighters.

"Shika's going to win; Kiba's too hot-headed." And that was it really, people who didn't take the time strategize were defeated by those who did. It was as simple as that.

Shikamaru dodged the boy and dog combo with the flexibility and speed Mum had beaten into him; moving as little as possible, Shikako noticed with amusement. Acting swiftly, before they could break out their 'Human Beast Transformation' or 'Fang over Fang' Shikamaru trapped Akamaru in the old Shadow-bind, while holding Kiba in the more common Shadow-Possession.

Shikako was really impressed; holding two Shadow jutsu at once was no easy feat.

Kiba forfeited the match as soon as his kunai was held to Akamaru's throat.

Shikamaru slouched back to the observation deck with Kiba glaring at his back. Kiba clearly saw this as a strike below the belt, and would likely devise some suitably 'troublesome' prank for revenge

Shikako bumped him with a smile, and gave a warning nod in the direction of the angry Inuzuka.

He sighed in response.

* * *

 _Hinata Hyuuga vs. Neji Hyuuga_

It hurt even more than she though it would, to watch the match. Every strike landed against her friend made Shikako flinch in sympathetic pain. Just remembering the feeling of the Jūken strike was unpleasant; but seeing it used repeatedly against her newest 'mark? **Unacceptable**.

Shikako wanted to go down there and _punch Neji in the face_ until shaped up and became a decent human being.

She wanted to call out to Hinata: tell her to forfeit, to stand up for herself… maybe even to activate that _disgusting_ seal; for her own self-preservation if nothing else.

Shikako would do nothing but watch; at least until Neji stepped out of line.

Because Hinata kept getting back up. Because this was important to her. To be strong, to keep standing up _because she could,_ and to acknowledge the suffering of the one she called 'brother' even as he tried to take her life.

Shikako was waiting when Neji ignored the proctor's desist order for one _final_ strike, and used the momentum of the Body Flicker (and every ounce of chakra enhancement she could muster) to punch Neji _right in the face_ and into the far wall. Several Jōnin hovered awkwardly in the space the furious teen had previously occupied, staring at her with some trepidation.

Shikako wanted to heal her fist, but a) felt this would ruin the overall effect of the act, and b) she wasn't sure her rapidly swelling fingers would be able to form the correct hand seals.

"Hinata," Naruto said, when she had to be carried off the floor on a stretcher, a growl in his voice. "I promise, I will _prove_ that people can change. I will _beat_ Neji in your name."

"Hmph." Neji snorted, unimpressed, but a massive purple bruise was blossoming across right eye and cheekbone. "A failure will always be a failure."

He also eyed Shikako with some hint of nervousness. _'As well he should!'_

"I think you would do well to remember that Hinata could have stopped you _at any point_ during that little temper tantrum." She said and held his livid, opalescent glare as the message sank in.

* * *

 _Sabuku no Gaara vs. Rock Lee_

Watching Lee and Gaara was better and worse. She wasn't quite as emotionally invested in him, but just like Hinata, like Sasuke, like Naruto, Lee would never quit. And Gaara would never be pacified.

Shikako watched closely, desperate to catch any weakness of the Jinchuuriki's; but it was a terrible thing to witness all the same.

Lee was just so _impressive_ once the weights came off. But even when he started opening the gates, it wasn't enough.

The explosion of chakra as the limiters released was exceptional; with so much chakra in the air it was visible to her _sight_ sight, not just her chakra sense. Shikako couldn't help but wonder if he _really was_ incapable of Justus, if he could manage all that.

He gave too much, too fast. Almost breaking his own body with the effort; _never mind_ what Gaara tried to do to him.

Like Hinata, Lee had to be carried out on a stretcher. Gaara floated back to his siblings on a magic carpet of sand, looking more bloodthirsty than ever.

Thankfully though, the prelims ended on a positive note, as the last Rain nin lost to Ino – as Shikako had thought earlier, they were fairly low-powered. Apparently they were also pretty much the same person copied out three times, with only Kagari having any kind of additional skill as compared to the others. 'Not a good team dynamic,' Shikako noted dryly 'but at least it gave Ino time to plan.'

"And with that match, the Third Exam preliminaries are now finished." The proctor coughed once more before calling all the winners down to the floor.

The Hokage stepped forward to explain the Third Exam.

"Everyone," Anko said, holding up a box and moving down the line. "Take one piece of paper and tell us the number written on it. Ibiki will draw up a sheet of matches."

 _Naruto vs. Neji_

 _Sasuke vs. Gaara_

 _Shikako vs. Temari_

 _Shino vs. Shikamaru_

 _Ino_

Shikako examined the familiar line-up and wondered how the proctors had managed to fix the matches when they'd used a lottery system to pick them out.

Chakra sensitive paper? Maybe?

* * *

Notes 2:

Challenge for people who are good at naming things: Find a suitable nickname for Shikako based on 'Daughter of the Forest'. I know that Naruto would think of something eventually, but I'm just not up to task :(

Omake by guisniperman

"Can we keep her please, please, please?" asked Shikako, Karin's head tucked beneath her chin while doing her best fawn eyes. "I promise to feed her, take care of her little presents and give her lot's of love!" Karin's face was red with embarrassment while the Hokage and her father looked gobsmacked at her attitude.

***It makes me feel so happy that people are interested enough in what I write to write little snippets themselves – so anyone who writes anything at all (no matter how small) can send it in to me, and I'll stick it in the notes.

****** Quote added 17/06/2016

When first thought about this chapter, I was going to have some pithy thing about politics or something - to show how unhappy Shikako is with system as it exists. But then I read through it as realised the real content of the chapter was about _people._ The individuals Shikako thinks about, and helps and admires - the small act of kindness she did for Tenten, even though it would change nothing.


	9. Chapter 9 Chūnin Exams Part 7 Interlude

Chapter 9 Chūnin Exams Part 7

* * *

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. Pele

* * *

The way home was easy, she and Shikamaru shuffled lazily, their fingers interlaced so Shika could safely cloud watch on the move.

They let Mum flutter around them when they arrived, proud and anxious in largely equal measure.

The family sat together for their evening meal, and Shikako listened to her twin whine about forest, happily giving her own heavily edited account. And this time she wouldn't even get I'n trouble if Mum ever found out; because she could just blame it on Dad.

Some hint of satisfaction must have shown in her face or something though; because dad gave her a wry look, but remained silent.

It was overall a good night, and the next day dawned bright and clear. Shikako knew this because Kakashi-sensei cheerfully tipped her out of bed just before hand to _helpfully_ inform her that team training would be in session at 7.

Still grumbling at the intrusion, Shikako hunched miserably at her desk and examined her sealing repertoire. She really needed to find a better way to hide her marks - she was just lucky that only Karin (and probably Sasuke as well) had noticed the blotchy nature of her skin.

She went over _again_ the parameters of what she needed. This newest failure told her that she needed something more adaptable. A way to hide the pigmentation difference that would continue to match the rest of her skin – something like a variable colour matrix, that would recalibrate every now and then to match the rest of her – no point in having the worlds strangest tan lines after a few hours in the sun. She had a little more to add this time, at least. The Uzu Tome and the Disguise Textbook had given her _a lot_ of new seals and elements to work with. A single seal would be preferable too, probably located on her Crown chakra gate: she _thinks_ this this where her soul reaches out to others, but she can't be sure. Shikako very much missed the hard sciences of her previous existence.

But in the end – that didn't matter.

Because she _still did not know how to make her own seals!_

There was _nothing_! Even though the Uzu Tome talked about people developing seals (hence the seal of mirrored weakness as a safety measure) but they still never actually said how one went about the actual creation part.

 _It was_ **wildly** _frustrating._

Eventually, Shikako fed the deer and stomped off to Team 7's training ground.

* * *

Naruto was there already, looking grumpy enough that Shikako was certain he'd also gotten Kakashi-sensei's _extra-special wakeup call_ in the small hours of the morning. When Sasuke didn't turn up within the next 10 minutes, Shikako realised that he would probably be stuck with Kakashi-sensei in the literal sense. With Orochimaru on the loose, and potentially more unknown allies within the village itself, it's very likely that Sasuke will not be allowed anywhere without ANBU guards and/or Kakashi for company.

That just left one very important question for Shikako answer. What was more likely? Was Sasuke kept waiting in some undisclosed location with the ANBU for sensei to turn up? (Shikako knew that Sasuke would have gotten a similar early morning greeting at the rest of the team – sensei usually believed in fairness when there was an element of shared suffering) Or was the Uchiha stuck _with_ Kakashi while he was purposefully late.

And which of those options was _funnier_?

She never did find out; the options were cast firmly from her mind during the hours she and Naruto spent waiting. It was a mostly pleasant couple of hours, they had bouts of sparring interspersed with Shikako convincing Naruto to not reverse summon himself, discussion of tactics, Shikako telling Naruto about all the terrible things that could happen to him in the realm of some unknown Summons Clan, study of seals, Naruto offering to take Shikako with him to the Summon realm and Shikako trying not to cry. If he figured out that the hand seals were in the Uzu Tome, then Shikako'd never see him again!

Thankfully, it was at this point that Kakashi-sensei turned up. He brought Sasuke, just like Shikako had expected, except… not quite how Shikako had expected. It looked the youngest Uchiha had suffered the indignity of being dragged through a Body Flicker with a single hand holding him by the scruff of his shirt. Sometimes Shikako wondered if their sensei treated them like his ninken… and what kind of implications that had for their relationship with the man.

The distraction was a good one, on the matter of reverse summoning at least; Naruto was _very_ distracted by his anger when Sensei told them about his and Sasuke's extended training trip. That Sasuke seemed just as unhappy with the arrangement as Naruto himself, was a small consolation to the blond.

"You're our sensei too you know! Why do me and Kako have to get left behind, an' you and Moonbeam over there have all the fun?" He demanded hotly.

Naruto was not even slightly pacified by the news that he was getting 'an even better teacher than I am'. He was much less impressed when that better teacher turned out to be Konohamaru's tutor; but grudgingly he left with the 'closet pervert'.

Shikako, for her part, was somewhat worried when Kakashi had said she was to be trained 'by her clan and others'. Because why are there ' _others'_ involved in her training?

Kakashi-sensei looked to be a moment away from shooing her off, so she very politely asked where they were going to go.

"Just why do you want to know?" her sensei asked, looking a lot like he already knew the answer.

"Because I'll be coming to visit, every now and then." She stated with some cheer – making Kakashi show that particular face (well, eye) was one of her favourite things. She _was_ being a bit more assertive than usual, but only because she had to be. Who knows what would happen if she left the two of them alone together for a month? How long before Sasuke started making legitimate attempts on Kakashi's life?

"You do have your own training to do, you know?" Kakashi began, looking like he was just covering his bases for when someone would come complaining to him later.

"I'll be fine sensei, my endurance could always use some work, and I can be plenty fast enough when I want to be. I'll be a perfect sparring partner for Sasuke."

"How…"

Shikako wondered why Kakashi even _wares_ a mask. It obviously can't be for disguising his emotional state: which currently looked to be 'quiet misery'.

"When I analysed Gaara's sand defence, the only weakness I could really see was speed. There is scope for Lightning Jutsu as well though; I mean sand is still _earth_ after all. Maybe enough water could bog it down as well…" Shikako let herself drift off. She had become very good at explaining away her unnatural knowledge, with all the concerted effort she'd been putting in since she found out the exam was taking place.

"If you want to know where we're going, you're going to have to learn more sophisticated evasion methods." Shikako smiled at him in a way she hoped was indicative of how very undaunted she was at the prospect of more learning.

"And you'll have to do it before we leave in three hours." He added unenthusiastically; likely coming to the (entirely correct) conclusion that she could force herself to learn any number of things in that time frame, in order to come and see them.

"You can't afford to spend too much time running back and forth, and you have to get permission to come out…" he was definitely running out of things to say, so Shikako had the room to be charitable, and just nodded, smiling brightly up at him. "And Naruto can't come; he's too loud and distracting. You wouldn't want to leave him alone would you? Who knows what would happen?" The poor soul thought, for a moment, that he'd finally found a winning strategy; but that was only because he misinterpreted her troubled look.

'What he's really saying,' Shikako thought, was that with Naruto as the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, it would be too risky to have Naruto out in the open with so many enemies around. Sasuke, on the other hand, was hunted by Orochimaru, and therefore had to be hidden away outside of the village - knowing that the snake had traitors embedded behind their walls.

"I'm sure Naruto will survive."

Kakashi stared, and Shikako stared back – utterly unmoved.

"Alright then, my cute little genin. Why don't we play **real** hide and seek!" Kakashi looked very ominous suddenly, and Shikako felt just a _little_ daunted by the glint in his eye.

It was worse than the evasion drills they'd done earlier.

 _So_ , **so** much worse.

Kakashi instructed them, briefly and piecemeal, on how to do a great many things. How to suppress their scents, and body heat. How to muffle the sounds of their breathing and heartbeat. How to walk across dead leaves without a single sound, and move without disturbing dust.

Then he put them to the test. When he was the seeker, and they were the hiders, the punishment was meted out in largely equal measure. He would simply kick them out of whichever spot or hole they had sequestered themselves in, and then spend a few minutes beating them up mercilessly.

He called it 'Motivational Sparring'.

It certainly motivated Shikako to always find Sasuke quickly when they got to play Hunter and Prey (Maa maa, did I say that? Of course I meant _hide and_ _seek_ ) together. They learned really quickly that if five minutes of searching came up with nothing, then they _both_ got to enjoy a session of Motivational Sparring.

Three hours later, Shikako stood and looked her sensei in the eyes. She was dripping with sweat, and chest was still billowing like a racehorses'; but she was victorious.

She wasn't anywhere near _mastery_ , but she had performed adequately; and she was going to cheat _so hard_ using the seals from the disguise book. There were definitely seals that dealt with the matter of scent.

Shikako didn't even pretend to be surprised when Kakashi made some inane comment about how time flies, and scooped up the supine and exhausted Uchiha under one arm and he shunshined away.

 _'Challenge accepted sensei.'_

Really, Kakashi should have _known better_ than to renege on his side of the deal – because that meant that she was no longer bound to uphold her part of the bargain. She would still be taking all due care, _obviously_ , but she wouldn't necessarily be asking _explicitly_ to go off and see Sasuke and her sensei. And what reason would her mother have to stop her from going out to 'visit friends?' Also, a lifetime ago, her then Grandfather had told her the beauty of the Common Law system: that which is not explicitly forbidden, is implicitly approved. He then followed that up with: it's only illegal _to be caught_ breaking the law. That was practically the title of the Ninja Handbook – Nara Edition.

* * *

Shikako dropped by to see Karin on the way home; the Uzumaki had been settled into a cosy beige room with a small shower and tiny kitchenette deep underground. She seemed… calmer now… there were books on Konoha, and Uzu on the small desk provided, and one open that seemed to be some kind of biography on Uzumaki Mito open on it. More than that though, were the numerous medical textbooks that weighed down the poor, beleaguered furniture. Shikako grinned when she saw them, glad to finally have something 'light' to talk about with this newest edition to her life.

She also picked up a book on tracking at the library, something which was a little bit harder to do now. The librarian glared with beady eyes, and almost refused to let her have any more after the incident with the Disguise Textbook.

At home, Shikako let her mother beat her up some more, and then was rewarded by being taught another Earth Jutsu: Earth Mole Missile, and it was _beautiful_. Clumps of shaped hardened earth fired off at high velocity. Laughing, Mum promised to teach her Earth Release: Brimstone as soon as she mastered the first. It was basically the same Jutsu, with an added hand seal and the component of Fire Element to make the core of the projectile unstable. In the distance, Shikamaru groaned. He had been driven into the ground at some point during a spar, and had since refused to dig himself out.

Even when Shikako had kindly taught him the Hiding like a Mole Jutsu.

Dinner was nice, filling and warm. Shikako was really quite drowsy when Dad spoke up. Carelessly he informed them that tomorrow, the morning and the afternoon were theirs to do with as they pleased; that evening they would be progressing in their studies of the Clan Techniques.

Mum looked immensely happy at the news. Shika looked like he wished he'd never dug himself out of the mud.

* * *

The next morning Shikako decided to take a break and check up on some of her friends.

Her first stop was at Ino's to socialise, and grab some flowers for visiting the hospital. It took slightly longer to get away than she expected; apparently Ino was a bit of a wreck over the oncoming exams. Shikako couldn't exactly tell her that a military incursion would save her from the competition; and she didn't think it would help Ino's nerves any to know.

Talking with Lee was brief and awkward. Speaking with Hinata was much easier. She was gentle, and sweet, and so very _proper._ Also, it was nice to give her neglected adventure books to a willing party; _inappropriate reading material_ or not.

Then Shikako tracked down Naruto, determined to get some sealing knowledge into his head - irrespective of what it did to her life expectancy.

What she found was an unmissable opportunity to pick the mind of The Seal Master in Konoha. She didn't know what made her happier, that he was there to beg tips off of, or that he'd let Naruto sign the Toad Summon Scroll. Okay, _that's a lie._ She's happiest that Naruto would not be vanishing off to places unknown without warning. Still, though – instruction from **Jiraiya** on seals!

Shikako walked away from that very enlightening conversation mostly shell-shocked, and revaluating everything she knew about seals; even as she taught Naruto the fundamentals of that very art (in the Traditional Konoha Style at least). Helping him with his Summoning problem wasn't quite enough to break through her restructuring thoughts.

Though Naruto exclamation afterwards that he'd _known_ she'd be able to fix it, did make her pause.

"Naruto, you do realise that I have never actually Summoned anything in my life, right?"

Shikako was suddenly very worried about the damage her influence might be causing when he merely said:

"Meh, _details_."

* * *

Shikako 'escorted' Naruto into the claims processing department to see Karin afterwards - another short visit (this time observed by an ANBU). Finally, Shikako was able to let herself fade into her own mind, giving the two Uzumaki some measure of privacy.

When they left, Naruto was in exceptionally high spirits; even asking for her advice on what to do about the Kyuubi situation. Eventually the bright orange shinobi bounced away, proclaiming that he would do chakra control exercises **_and_** learn how to use his tenants' chakra.

Normally, Shikako would have gone home, but she had resolved to do some seal development; and being in an enclosed environment wasn't exactly conducive for that.

Shikako moved silently between the vacant training grounds, and found a quiet, shadowed spot; then settled in with her scrolls and books.

It all made so much more _sense_ now that she knew seals were just the _interface_ between a person and the nature of reality, rather than the _hardware_.

It was all about how she perceived reality, and then how she wanted it to be changed. As an **Other** , Shikako could _intellectually_ _understand_ the seals she dealt with: but they weren't the way _she_ would have done them.

That was the important thing. Why the Sharingan was no asset in the study of Fuuinjutsu.

It was all on **you**. Your _will_ , and your _ingenuity_ , and your _knowledge_ applied to the universe at large.

And proving once and for all that the universe is not without a sense of irony, the thing that made sense to Shikako is the _triangle_. It was perfect and adaptable. A triskelion - three spirals that joined to form the sides - with the kanji for blast in the centre and the details - radius, intensity, timer - scribed out in English with adjustable numerical attributes

No one would ever know that Shikako had almost killed herself with her own successfully created Touch Blast seal. Ever. It was a secret for _the rest of time._

Then she got straight to work on the Markless Seal, as she has oh-so-creatively dubbed it in her head.

She used the triangle as a base. With the Kanji for conceal in the centre, and then at each point of the triangle she named the sense that needed to be deceived. Sight, Touch, (Chakra) Sense. In English between Sight and Sense she inscribed the calculations for the chakra difference between herself and her marks, and how to hide it. Between Sense and Touch she created a colour matrix that would 'buffer' every 6 hours. The line that made the 'base' of the triangle between Sight and Touch was dedicated the power modulator, describing in detail how it would come to rely on the Natural Chakra of the world once set. She configured it until it was clean and beautiful as clockwork.

Shikako looked at it still _somewhat unsure_. There would be, could be as a matter of fact, no 'safe test' for this seal. It would only work if attached to the crown chakra of a person, and of only _one person_ in particular.

Shikako spread out her senses to the surroundings she suspected could hold a spy, and _LOOKED_ _very_ **very** hard for any eavesdroppers; even going to far as to comb through the warm patches of residue where people had used enhanced leaps to tree jump. She also applied some of Kakashi-sensei's Evasion Detection Techniques, which she doubted very much were what he'd had in mind when he taught them to her. Then she thought about it some more, and conceded that this was probably _not terribly dissimilar,_ to the kinds of circumstances he'd had in mind.

Satisfied she was suitably alone, Shikako began unweaving her old Disguise seals and reintegrating their chakra.

Shikako felt oddly bloated when she was done with the last seals chakra, and her skin felt like it was stretching: many of the seals hadn't even had the chance to run even half of their lifespans, and had plenty of chakra to give back.

The few minutes of slight discomfort were more than worth it when she felt the initial cost of the seal. It would have drained her dry.

For several long minutes Shikako sat, swaying and feeling terribly unbalanced. She wondered what caused that; if she had done something wrong and the seal was now negativity impacting her cognition? Or if it was a simple matter of her body just being confused about the astonishing flux of her chakra levels.

The feeling faded away, so she concluded (hopefully) that it was simply the shock to her chakra system that caused it.

It worked perfectly, and Shikako tried to feel happy about that, but...

 _They were gone._

Her marks were just gone, every trace vanished. Not a whisper of chakra, or a hint of colour remained.

Looking down at her black palm made her want to cry: made her feel like that 5-year-old little girl again.

And just like she had then, Shikako reached out to a bond her senses no longer acknowledged.

 _It was still there!_

 _Obviously_ it was still there. She hadn't sealed it away, not in the strictest sense of the term. All outward signs had been suppressed, but the connections were still there. Just beyond her reach, she could feel the lazy warmth of her brothers' soul: with her consciously focusing on the bond between them, she could actually _feel his soul_. He felt like... A dense warm cloud on a hot summer's night; a comforting mix of diffused starlight and soft darkness. She laughed, joyful, and the feel of it reverberated through the soul bond with her other half.

Shikako practically skipped home afterwards, mind awash with sealing ideas - what Shikako needed _most of all_ was a way to duplicate books, she decided. You can _never_ have enough books.

Her enthusiasm was only slightly dimmed when her brother seemed to indicate that he had noticed her encroachment on to his soul.

"You weren't near our training ground? I thought I heard you laughing at team training; it was troublesome."

Shikako felt a little unnerved, but waved him off with a quick quip about everything being troublesome to him, and something about him probably being half asleep. She resolved to keep her soul to herself from then on.

Clan training was both interesting and terrifying - and Shikako definitely didn't need Dads specific ban on practising unsupervised.

The update that the Shadow Possession jutsu used a sympathetic connection to convince her opponent's chakra that _she was_ **them** _too..._ that was _beyond_ fascinating.

But... Shikako felt very uncomfortable with the idea of manipulating her own spirit; what if it affected her soul? What if it affected her 'marks? That wasn't something she wanted to mess with.

Still it was an overall very good, if very busy, day; and Shikako fell asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Shikako had almost convinced herself there would be no consequences for what had happened in that debriefing. _Almost_.

When Dad told her softly over breakfast that she had an appointment about her childhood affliction, she knew something bad must be coming.

"Just a routine check up on her Chakra Hypersensitivity" Dad lied to the household as they left, gently manoeuvring a very stiff Shikako out of the door with him.

"Am I in trouble?" Shikako asked numbly.

"No Dearheart, your Aunt Kofuku and Inochi and a few others are just going to take a look at - the nature of your condition. You haven't been seen for it since you were a toddler after all."

This was _not a comforting thing_ to hear. Why was Inochi there? What possible reason could the former head of Torture and Interrogation possibly have to sit in on a 'routine medical check-up'?

They slipped into the hospital through the side entrance, and Shikako felt 10,000 times worse when she saw just who else was in the room. Hiashi Hyuuga and the Third Hokage.

'Oh God. What is this?' Shikako wonders in terror. If Ibiki turns up then Shikako's running away to join the circus.


	10. Chapter 10 Chūnin Exams Part 8 Interlude

Chapter 10 Chūnin Exams Part 8

* * *

 **Note:** Many thanks to my Beta MathIsMagic, who helps minimise my appalling inability to stay in one tense, among other things.

* * *

"Consider how much more you often suffer from your anger and grief, than from those very things for which you are angry and grieved." Marcus Antonius

* * *

With wide eyes Shikako examined her surroundings. It was an ordinary, if large, examination room. The exam table was odd though, with a strange seal adorned hood-type-thing that would cover the head and shoulders of anyone who laid on it.

Shikako swallowed and examined the seals, before turning to the occupants of the room. Just for the sake of saying _something_ , Shikako spoke.

"Good morning everyone." She said unsurely. ''Hokage-sama" She added with a distracted bow.

There are a million things she wants to tack on the end of that.

'What are we doing today?'

'Hokage-sama, what are you doing here?'

"Why is Hinata's dad here?'

'Should I ask for legal representation?' That last one was a joke of course. A bit of gallows humour to take the edge off her growing panic. There is no _legal representation_ worthy of the name. Not in a _dictatorship_ , not when the _dictator himself_ stands in front of you.

In lieu of embarrassing and/or incriminating herself, Shikako simply let the words die stillborn in her throat as she examined the seals on the table.

"I thought you'd find that interesting, Shikako." Inochi commented brightly, following her gaze to the seal device.

"It's something that Yamanaka R&D have been cooking up for a long time, and I thought now would be a good opportunity to test it out."

This was also _not_ the _comforting thing_ Inochi seemed to think it was. Yamanaka R &D mainly dealt with psychology and the development of their Mind-Related techniques and technologies.

"What does it do?" Shikako asked as evenly as she could.

"Why don't you have a look and tell me?" Inochi asked cheerily. "I've heard your sealing studies have come on in leaps and bounds recently."

 _'So the test has begun,_ ' thought Shikako to herself, 'assuming that it hadn't already.'

She shuffled closer uncertainly.

It was massively complicated, _whatever it was_ , and it connected to a TV screen as well. Shikako could tell just by looking that whoever had designed it was **not** a Seal Master. There were poorly incorporated elements, repeated sections, and several parts that seemed to do nothing except attempt to balance the chakra equations. That wasn't a good thing. Not in the slightest. All the parts of the seal had to do something, or they'd start to warp; thereby affecting the overall function of the matrix.

Shikako felt deeply worried about subjecting herself to exposure to this device on two fronts now; but Inochi was looking at her expectantly.

"Erm... Something about... Measuring electrical outputs? And chakra... A kind of imaging conversion, and... That's all I can say." There was more, but the whole thing was so hellishly messy that it would take days off dedicated study to decode.

Inochi looked pleased. "Very good! It measures the electoral impulses in the brain."

Shikako blinked and tilted her head at the machine. Neuroimaging she realised slowly. That doesn't sound too bad, she tried to convince herself.

"All you're going to do is lie back, look at some pictures on the screen in there, and answer some questions. It's mostly for the development process" The uncle figure said pacifyingly "Though we will have to get some base lines for your sense perception, but it will only be a very minor part of the process, and you'll be healed immediately" he continued earnestly as Shikako grew steadily colder. "And then we can get around to the real business of testing your chakra sense!" He finished happily by adding that it should take 'no time at all'.

Shikako just nodded and gave a plastic smile; because what other option was there?

Inochi then explained that Hiashi was there to periodically examine her chakra network, and help with testing her chakra perception. Shikako had two thoughts about this. 1. This is not the ideal first test for her Markless Seals subtlety and 2. They were going to Jūken Strike her: so that's why Hinata's father was there.

She reminded herself that she was no more capable of defending herself against the people in this room standing, than she would be in that machine. It wasn't a particularly welcome sentiment, but it was accurate.

Aunt Kofuku helped Shikako into the device, and Inochi activated it. Shikako sensed it immediately; it felt like the sound of turning on an old air conditioning unit.

"Ah, here we are. I can see that beautiful brain in action now." Called Inochi from beyond the hum.

As part of the 'testing procedures' Shikako was required to state: her name, age, place of birth and shinobi registration number.

Shikako wondered what kind of baseline they were establishing with all the half-truths she supplied; and if that was a good or a bad thing for her.

They talked about her likes and dislikes after that. Gyoza, reading and playing shogi with her brother vs Natto, taking boring tests like at the academy, and evasion training with Kakashi-sensei.

Then they moved on to the image recognition part of the assessment. There she identified the people she was close to, and how she felt about them.

"That's Inuzuka Kiba, he's a loudmouth pain, but he's not too bad."

"That's Sasuke, he's my teammate. I'm worried about what extended isolation with only Kakashi-sensei for company will do to his sanity."

"That's Chouji, he's the nicest person ever."

Then the body of the grass nin that contained Orochimaru flashed up on the screen, and even just the sight of a picture of him was enough to send a bolt of fear down her spine.

"That is Orochimaru of the Sanin. He tried to put some kind of soul consuming seal on my teammate's neck and I hate him."

The Hokage coughed. "Soul consuming?" he asked, sounding a little concerned.

"Yes." Shikako answered plainly, before elaborating. "There is a storage element that locked behind a one way containment modulator which seems to contain foreign spiritual energy described in Kanji as Soul. Then in the outer part which would interact with Sasuke directly, the seal describes the process of influencing his chakra network as 'consuming'." The memory of how the seal felt against Shikako's soul overwhelmed her for a moment, and she shuddered. "It was the most disgusting thing I've ever felt in my whole life." she informed them firmly.

They went through a few more people and places before shifting over to the _supposed_ real point of the examination: her chakra sense.

Through the cloying blanket of chakra-sound from the Neural Imaging Seal, Shikako felt her aunt move closer. Physical sensation first, they told her. First it was just the light brush of old fingers against her arm, then a painful clamp over her fingers, and finally ending with the pad of her thumb split open with a scalpel.

Shikako, as directed, allowed herself to feel the sensation; rather than push it away as she would normally.

She did the same with the uncomfortable invasive feeling of her aunt's healing chakra knitting her skin back together.

Shikako was aware of a sudden stillness that seemed to overtake the room.

A hand wreathed in healing chakra descended on her arm and pressed against her chakra network. Shikako started to focus on making her suddenly disquieted chakra pathways work as usual, when she remembered that this was exactly the reason they were looking at her. Shikako simply grit her teeth and let the uncomfortable feeling and consequences of her aunt's chakra wash over her senses.

Thankfully, Kofuku-oba removed her palm before the flow disruption started to creep over her shoulder.

"Shikako... does healing... hurt you?" Her Aunt sounded strangely distant and subdued, Shikako concluded it was just a psychosomatic effect of the seal network wrapped around her head.

"I don't like the feeling of it." She answered after a moment's thought. She knew it didn't damage her, but it was a very unpleasant feeling; so her reply was accurate.

There was no warning when the Jūken strike happened - same as with the other sense tests.

The effects were immediate and severe, and she didn't attempt to control it; even though she really **really** wanted to. Excruciating pain radiated from a single point of white hot agony on her arm, and her vision faded to black for a moment.

She heard violent cursing and then, with a swift brush of fingers, the pain lessened as the foreign chakra dispersed; and she was able to eject the remainder herself with much relief.

"Are you alright, Dearheart?" Shikako heard her father say from close by, and then registered that he was cradling her formerly injured arm in both hands. One hand supported her wrist, the other pressed against her pulse point.

"I'm fine" She said a moment later, after coughing displaced chakra out of her lungs. "This is why I always hated facing Hinata in the sparring sessions at the academy. One touch and I was out." She kept her tone deliberately light, but the twitch of her father fingers told Shikako that her words failed to have their intended effect.

"Is it over yet?" Shikako asked, wanting to move the proceedings on one way or the other.

"Not ye-" Inochi begins apologetically, but is cut off by the Hyuuga Clan Head.

"Yes. Shikaku, your daughter must begin treatment immediately; or she will very likely die a slow and painful death in the near future."

Dad's hands are like shackles around her wrist, like he could keep her alive if he could just hold on hard enough.

"What." He _snarled_ , **demanded** and all Shikako could perceive was the endless black of his churning chakra; vast as the night sky.

Then it's suddenly gone, and she can't feel him at all, except for the gentle curve of his fingers around her arm.

Shikako feels... _lost_. She _isn't_ **dying**. She doesn't _even_ _have_ Chakra Hypersensitivity like they thought. They're wrong again, and she needs to step in and out a stop to this nonsense before it takes root.

One handed as she manoeuvred herself out of the device, she heard the Hyuuga explain what he _thinks_ is wrong.

"Her Chakra Network is unstable, and without treatment, it _will_ collapse in on itself. Untreated the condition _will_ be fatal." he sounded both certain and sincere; which meant that it is going to be much more difficult to convince everyone else that he's mistaken.

"You're wrong." Shikako told him firmly, _and really_ , **why** is was conversation happening above her head?

"I am not." Hiashi Hyuuga replied solemnly, a touch of honest regret in his voice.

Shikako rolls her eyes, _obviously_ people who are wrong don't know that they're wrong.

Turning her face to her father's, Shikako mentally prepared the speech that would make all this ridiculousness go away. Then stopped.

Dad's face... She's never seen anything like it before. He looked... hollowed out, and crushed; like there was nothing left of him but despair.

Shikako felt her eyes burn, and she cursed Hiashi to the pits of hell. _How could he_ tell everyone this hurtful untruth; **how dare he** make her father look like that.

Gently, she pressed her hands to get fathers chest. "I'm okay." She said gently. "I'm the same as I've always been. I'm not going to die; it's alright." She still _can't feel him._

His face did some incredibly complicated things then, and he brought his hands up to cradle her skull; just the way he had all those years ago.

"You are going to be okay." He decided finally. _Command_ again.

"You are going to get treatment, and do _everything_ your doctor's tell you to, and then you'll be okay." His face was resolved now, which was easier to look at; but he was still wrong. He still had to be corrected.

But he'd already started talking over her head, taking to Aunt Kofuku about treatment - for something she _didn't even have_.

When she heard Kofuku-oba day she had to be withdrawn from the Chunin exams, Shikako really had to object.

At first Dad was dismissive, then he was _annoyed_.

"No. You're all blowing this out of proportion! I'm not quitting the exams!"

Then he was **angry**.

"I know that you're twelve, and that you think you're invincible; but you're **not**!" He shouted at her. Dad. Dad shouted at her. She'd never heard him shout before.

"You are **quitting the exam,** and getting treatment, and doing _whatever you have to,_ to get better - even if that means not using chakra. **Ever again** , if that's how it has to be." He's not _quite_ shouting now, but his voice is rigid, and hard, and louder than usual.

She wanted to shout back; to tell him that he's wrong, that he's being stupid, that he _can't tell her what to do_. But her throat closed up, and her eyes were blurry: because her Dad just _shouted at her._

"Of course Shikako-chan can be excused from the exams on medical grounds" the Third said, diffusing the tension in the room.

He looked old, and tired; and there was so much pity in his expression that Shikako suddenly wanted to find some way to maim the _old goat._

With anger-cleared eyes, Shikako examined the faces in the room. Inochi, and aunt Kofuku were both grey, and horrified. The search for Hiashi turned up nothing; clearly he had seen a way to escape this situation and taken it. Shikako was torn between jealousy, and the desire to find him, punch him in the face as hard as she had his nephew.

The Sandaime Hokage and Inochi left soon after, and Shikako was stuck between her aunt and father as they dictated her 'treatment plan' and actions; _without ever consulting her on the matter._

And with her father between her and the door, there was no hope of escape.

Even when it came time to moving to Kofuku-oba's office, Shikako had no opportunity to run. Her father laid one hand on the back of her neck, under the plait, and guided her the whole way.

After a brief and miserable session of trial and error, it was determined that Shikako would have to perform the Pathway Reinforcement Iryō Ninjutsu herself, and was given a heavy set of medical texts to memorise.

Had she really thought just yesterday that more books were the most important thing?

' _What a joke.'_

When they finally arrived back home, Mum was there to greet them. The way her face _changed_ when she saw them was too painful after everything else that had happened that day; so Shikako walked silently past her Mother to go and hide in her room; and wonder how this had happened.

How had she asked this ridiculousness to persist?

Shikako sat and read her prescribed reading in silence for hours. Not because she thought they were right... **obviously not** , but... It couldn't _hurt_ to know, she would be expected to learn.

She consoled herself in the knowledge that they hadn't forbidden her to use chakra or Jutsu. She could still find ways to train; to prepare for the invasion.

Shikako laid in bed for hours afterwards, didn't come down to dinner when called.

In the dead of night, Shikako felt her brother's restless chakra make its way to the closed door to her room. He just _stood there._ Unmoving _._

Eventually, the drama was too much (she couldn't bear to have Shika standing just out of reach when he clearly needed comfort), so she coughed loudly, and flicked the bed covers back pointedly.

He crept in, quiet as a shadow and laid down beside her.

She could see his eyes glimmering in the dark with tears, and wanted to tell him it was all a big misunderstanding.

She wasn't quick enough though, and he pulled her in to his chest, sobbing and dripping tears into her hair; and she couldn't speak at all. She just held on, and hoped that would be enough.

* * *

In the morning, Shikako carefully detangled her person from her brother, and silently made her way to the kitchen to prepare bento's for her friends.

On the way out, Shikako passed her mother, and she had to look away from the older woman's face. The anguish was unbearable.

"I'm going out to see friends, that's okay right Mum?"

As she stepped out the front door, Shikako heard the faint voice of her mother mumble. "Alright then..." And took that as carte blanche to do what she wanted.

It's a good thing dad wasn't home.

Being that it was _functionally_ still night-time, Shikako had to limit who she could visit.

It was hilariously outside of visiting hours, so she couldn't see Hinata (didn't want to go back to the hospital), and it was a bit early to see Ino (whose father will have told her everything by now) or Chouji (who would know one way or the other about her supposed condition). Shikako decided to drop in on Naruto instead.

She couldn't sense him at all at his ratty old building, so she went back to the training ground she'd seen him at yesterday.

Sure enough, there he was: slumped face-down on the grass, _out cold_. She couldn't even blame him; Shikako'd sleep outside too, if she had a home as dilapidated, and unpleasant as the one waiting for him. She resolved to find and secure a better house for him in the not too distant future; he and Karin would need a nicer place to live.

When Shikako prodded him awake, she could have been forgiven for thinking that he'd just rolled out of a bed in a 5 star hotel. He was just **immediately** sunshine bright and awake; it was a bit unpleasant to witness.

They had breakfast, and Naruto chattered on about everything and nothing, and Shikako amused herself with observing Naruto's shadow guard. He (or she) was very _put out_ , presumably about spending the night outside; and was then _even less_ _amused_ to hear his overly emotional and joyful commentary. Obviously, they were as jealous of Naruto's unnatural vitality as Shikako herself.

She didn't mention the diagnosis. There was no reason to. It was a false positive, and the misinformation would disseminate without any help from her anyway. Why not enjoy one morning, _one last day_ , of being treated like a person, rather than a glass figurine?

They had a brief, warm-up spar, and then Shikako drilled Naruto on the basics of Fuinjutsu again – determined to make it stick.

The Sealing Arts would likely be the only thing she would be encouraged to pursue for the time being, but at least it was something. This whole state of affairs really was just _so tiresome._

If Naruto didn't have a minder, Shikako would probably have asked the blond to cover for her while she went off to see their other teammates. A disguised Shadow Clone with seals to give off her scent and chakra signature would have been perfect – she'd just tell Naruto to dump it in the library and spend the next several hours doing some book-learning.

 _Wait._

Why couldn't she do that anyway? It would be a somewhat more involved process… but a workable solution slowly presented itself. 'This is going to be _fabulous_ ,' Shikako thought to herself grinning manically.

"Ne Ne Naruto, would you make three clones? They can spend the day with me at the library to help with your studies. Make them _really durable_ – you have a lot to learn!" She said, more for the sake of their hidden listener than anything else. Naruto looked suspiciously at her, but agreed easily enough – he clearly recognised that expression.

She and the three Narutos left the training ground with no reaction from the ANBU. When they were far enough away, Shikako motioned for the clones to follow her to a secluded spot.

There she told them her plan, and was met with three identical foxy grins.

A Shikako (who looked, and smelled, and felt like Shikako) and a Naruto set off towards the library. Meanwhile, a nondescript kunoichi casually leapt over the village walls, _just happening_ to miss the perimeter guard patrols. No one noticed if she had a small passenger on her left shoulder. Even if someone did, by chance, spot the young woman; they would have dismissed her immediately. That was the power of looking casual and harmless; and Shikako would be grateful to Kakashi-sensei for that lesson forever.

She took all due care; her scent was already sealed, but she compressed her chakra as much as she could while enhancing her muscles, and left no trail on the ground to follow. She even used the Chakra Pathway Reinforcement Technique while on the move – so she could tell everyone that she was taking her 'treatment plan' seriously. It took three-and-a-half hours, all told, to find them; it was only because of the tracking book, that Shikako found them _that_ quickly.

Shikako was about 2 kilometres away from her teammates (and three deathly bored ANBU) when she released her suppression techniques and flared her chakra in greeting.

Sasuke looked thrilled to see her, and Kakashi looked very, very tired.

"And I suppose you got permission to come out here?" He asked halfheartedly, eyeing the dull greyish-green knee-length jacket she wore belted closed over her usual outfit.

Shikako preened playfully for a moment - it really was a good find. An uninteresting colour and style, with a thick pouch laden belt at the waist to accentuate her (non-existent) femininity. The side slits in the fabric from the hips down meant that freedom of movement and access to her thigh pouches were preserved. In short, it was almost enough disguise on its own - as long as she tucked her hair down the back of the collar.

"In a manner of speaking. I try to follow rules to the _letter._ " Shikako said brightly, and continued "And in that vein, since Naruto can't be here personally, I brought a Shadow Clone with me. So that Naruto doesn't feel left out, I remember you were worried about that." Which was _nothing like_ what he'd said, but Shikako was happy to play pretend.

The clone poofed back into its usual shape at her side, grinning up a Kakashi-sensei as well.

"Ah, well… isn't that clever…" Kakashi looked very much like he was contemplating suicide or murder, but couldn't quite work up the energy to do either.

Naruto stayed behind with Kakashi-sensei to 'catch up' while she and Sasuke had their race, then _helped_ with their 'agility training', and finally he yelled advice and good-natured abuse at them as they sparred. Sasuke protested that he hadn't _aimed_ the kunai which almost popped the clone; it was _clearly_ an accident.

No one even pretended to believe him.

Hours later, they were all laid out on the sun-warmed stone. The three physical people ate bento's, and all four of them bantered; familiar and easy.

It was one of those perfect moments: the ones you wish you could freeze and keep forever, untouched by the merciless progression of time.

So obviously, that's when the topic of tactics for the exam came up; and Shikako remembered her 'condition', and the issues that had come with everyone _thinking_ she had it.

It was Sasuke that noticed the fall in her mood first.

"Is something wrong?" He asked softly, tilting head in askance.

"You wouldn't believe how troublesome everything at home is." She said simply, grumpily.

"Maa maa, they have you doing the extra sensory training already?" Kakashi-sensei asked sounding gleeful, clearly attributing her grouchiness to a _typical Nara_ response to more work.

She dearly wished he could have been correct.

Also, extra sensory training? Shikako had thought the Third was making sure she wasn't a spy (or otherwise compromised) in preparation for using her seal perception as a weapon in the shadow war between himself and Danzo. Maybe Kakashi was using training as a cover, or euphemism of some kind?

"No. I've been pulled out of the exams on completely bogus medical grounds. It's so frustrating." She complained; hoping to frame the conversation in such a light as to allow herself to explain the ridiculousness of the entire thing.

It did not work.

Her teammates all immediately pushed themselves upright to examine her; the boys with exclamations of shock and concern. Kakashi, in contrast, rose with deadly silence; lifting his Hitai-ate as he did so.

With six concerned eyes (three of which being Sharingan) fastened on her, Shikako groaned dramatically, and laid her arm over her eyes.

"I swear! One person, _who isn't even a doctor,_ diagnoses you with Chakra Instability; and suddenly _everyone_ thinks you're dying or something! This is such a pain." She groused.

One of the boys echoed softly "dying?" and Shikako realised she probably should have kept a tighter hold on her temper.

"I'm not dying!" She told them, sitting up to prove how very _not-dying_ she was.

"Report. Now" Kakashi commands, and _what is it_ with people _commanding_ her lately?

"It's nothing. I'm fine, exactly the way I've always been, _as a matter of fact_. But then Hyuuga Hiashi said that I have Chakra Instability, and everyone lost their minds. Now I'm off duty and have to perform Iryō Ninjutsu on myself – it's such a waste of time!" Why could no one see this?

None of them looked convinced.

"Show me." Again, this was not a polite request from her dear Jōnin-sensei; but an order from her commanding officer.

Jokes on him though – being on medical leave means that Shikako doesn't _have_ _to_ do anything he says.

She still does it though, because Kakashi's current emotional state could easily be designated as ' **apoplectic rage** '; and Shikako really doesn't want that directed at her any more than it already is.

She makes a bit of a production over doing it; huffing and muttering as she performed the hand seals. Turning her natural chakra into healing chakra while it's still in her network is actually really hard. And then she had to perform a kind of odd chakra manipulation, whereby she spun the chakra within its pathway; which pushed the healing chakra out to the edges like a centrifuge, allowing it to reinforce the 'wall' of the circuit. She forced the technique to run for one full rotation of her system; her coils still felt oddly distended from the other day's chakra reabsorption, and the reinforcement didn't help them get back to normal. Really, the Jutsu did _nothing_ even remotely helpful.

Then a thought struck her.

If this whole mess was because of her fluctuating chakra levels (that would be classed as 'instability' _would it not?_ ) then Shikako was going to **scream**.

"There. That's it. Satisfied?" Shikako said tersely; in a way that _strongly implied,_ that she thought the entire exercise was pointless.

"Are you even permitted to use chakra?" Kakashi-sensei asked with something like a snarl in his voice.

"Did you not hear the part where I have to perform the Medical Jutsu myself?" She asked insolently, but the dark look she received compelled her to add "I have not been prohibited from using chakra."

The good mood had clearly been broken beyond repair, and Shikako excused herself from the visit.

"I'm afraid I have to be getting back to the village now. It was good to see the two of you; I'll see if I can come visit again before the Third Exam, but I wouldn't count on it."

She turned to leave, but Sasuke reached out to grab her wrist.

"You're not… really dying are you?" He asked hesitatingly, and Shikako thinks he looks 8-years-old again. Vulnerable and hurting, but also a little disbelieving – like it _can't_ be true.

She pulls him into a tight hug "Of course not! Even if _Hyuuga Hiashi_ is right, and if there was something wrong with my chakra, then I'm already getting treatment. You won't get rid of me _that_ easily." She tried and failed at humour, then simply let him squeeze her tighter.

The way home was much quicker – just under an hour and a half with her really pushing it.

She asked the Naruto clone that had insisted on accompanying her home for an update as they approached the walls. It had some bad news.

Apparently her plan, and Naruto's disguise/infiltration work, wasn't quite good enough to fool the Jōnin Commander of Konohagakure.

Go figure.

Hesitantly, Shikako lessened her suppressant techniques, sealed the disguise jacket away, and approached the main gates.

And there he was; her father, leaning casually against the guard box. Deadly calm.

Shikaku looked deceptively nonchalant. Like it might have been a perfect coincidence; like he _just happened_ to be waiting there for some entirely unrelated reason.

He was Not Impressed.

Shikako was grounded. Actually grounded. She had _never in her life_ been grounded, but she knew better than to protest this time.

 _'Worth it.'_

* * *

 **Notes 2:** I would like to thank whoever it was that came up with the sick!Kako idea in Recursive, if someone can direct me to the page/individual then I will name them and thank them personally. Now I'd just like to take a second to justify this change from cannon: I think that Shikako had the chakra network instability issues in DOS (caused by manipulating chakra too young, or damage from the Kyuubi attack, being a twin, or by being from another universe - whatever), but was cured by Gelel, so no one ever knew that she avoided death another time during that mission. That is my headcannon. Also, Shikako playing with the Seals did make it look worse than it really was.

Update requested by FallTigerKisa on the Soulmark Colour Changes: Naruto – Green, Sasuke – Green, Kakashi – Gold/Blue/Green, Kiba – Orange, Hinata – Silver/Orange, Haku - Purple/Orange/Green. All others remain as stated. Becuase of the minimal Chakra emissions made by Kabuto and Orochimaru, and the small amount of time she was around them, Shikako doesn't have marks for either - but might still get some if they come back to haunt her...


	11. Chapter 11 Chūnin Exams Part 9 Interlude

Chapter 11 Chūnin Exams Part 9

* * *

"My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength." Michael Jordan

* * *

Unsurprisingly, two weeks of being grounded (forbidden to leave the Clan grounds) was actually not quite the punishment Shikako's father seemed to hope it would be. Once, Before, when she really had been a whining, unoccupied child, someone said told her that 'the truly educated mind is never bored'. At the time, Shikako had dismissed it as just one of those irritating things adults said. Like _'suffering is character building,'_ or _'patience is a virtue'_. Now though, with this brain, and her determination to protect her 'marks, and the ability to bend the elements to her will?

She was never _bored_ , that's for sure.

It was still galling though. She was a Shinobi for heaven's sake! If she was old enough to take a life, how was she **not** old enough to make her own choices? Apparently, that was because her father was _also_ her Clan Head, and _just happened_ to be very highly ranked. It became obvious that if she wanted to openly exercise all the freedoms being a Konoha Shinobi afforded her, then she'd have to do it from outside the clan. It wasn't what she _wanted_ , but the idea was becoming more and more tenable with every wasted hour.

She had to protect her soulmarks... but it was such a shame that they had become _obstacles to overcome,_ in this fight against the predestined future of this world.

Dad was resolute, and Mum… she fluctuated between anger, and fear, and desolation. It was almost more than Shikako could bear to witness it – but she tried to be there when her mother needed her. Needed to see her alive and moving.

It didn't matter, because one way or another: she would save them. _All of them._

Obviously, there was a level of revaluating involving her training schedule. Anything chakra intensive was expressly forbidden, which meant that it could only be done discreetly. Seal work, and other intelligence/research work was, however, permitted and actively encouraged. Which was useful.

Her friends didn't take the news well.

Mum, Dad, Shikamaru, Ino, Naruto and Kiba all chewed her out over leaving the village while on sick leave, without medical (or familial) permission. Shino _stared_ (probably – she can't be sure, what with the glasses and all) and gave off the impression of **Disapproval** while informing her that Hinata was sorry she couldn't visit. There was not a _speck_ of emotion even hinted at in his expression, body language, facial expression or tone. Shikako would have been impressed by this mastery in communicating without communication; if she hadn't been so intimidated.

They'd all stuck annoyingly close after that day, and time alone became a precious commodity. Still it was nice that they cared so much - it's just that Shikako wished they'd do it quieter - and from a more reasonable distance.

Ino especially was overwrought, in large part at now having to face a fresh (and superior) opponent in Temari. Terror and guilt were not emotions that seemed to mix well in the Ino-cauldron. It all worked out okay at least; Shikako ended up sharing her newly cooked-up 'resistance steals' with Ino, so that the girl could work in her agility to get away from those Wind Jutsu. Several people tried unsuccessfully to convince Shikako that she should not wear them herself. On that matter, Shikako didn't even pretend to listen; with clipped worlds she informed them that the seals did not impact her chakra system in any way, and they were _staying_.

Shikako was still a Kunoichi, and she was only on temporary medical leave; as she reminded everyone who looked to be in danger of forgetting.

Some people seemed to think that Shikako was being medically retired from active service at age 12, and looked tight-faced when she informed them that she would _not_ spend the rest of her life in R &D, or as a paperwork-nin.

Shikako couldn't believe her family _really thought_ she'd go in for that.

She wanted to punch Jiraiya in the face for suggesting it. "'Can still contribute to the village,' my arse!" she muttered angrily; and they'd been having such a fruitful conversation before he went and ruined it! He turned up with Naruto one afternoon and they went over the finer details of the Seal of Mirrored Weakness. When he mentioned it, Shikako told him that he would have to talk to Naruto about the Uzu Sealing methods; they didn't make an appearance in her comparative study because they belonged to Naruto's Clan – not hers.

Shikako lips twitched downwards as she remembered a particularly fraught conversation _(if you could call it that)_ between herself and her family.

Should never have allowed her to learn that clan style?! To go to the Academy even!

As though they would have stopped her (they could have). As though they could stop her now (they could not).

This 'Daddy knows best' shtick was really getting on her last nerve.

And they wouldn't let her summon Heijomaru to see Sembei-oba either - which made Shikako feel like some kind of Oath Breaker.

It was that guilt which drove Shikako to find her greatest ally in the whole clan.

Sembei-oba was _Not Impressed_ by 'Young Shi-chan's wishy washy attitude' to Shikako's condition. It wasn't in the interest of the shinobi, or the clan, or the alliance. "You don't cut a perfectly good ninja career off at the knees because of a few bumps on the road," The old woman had told her, before going on to complain that they had invented all kinds of illnesses that had never existed in back in _her day._

Shikako spent many rewarding hours at Sembei-oba's house under the guise of brushing up on the history of the summons clan she had sworn herself to; and in a way, that _is_ what happened. It was simply a small detail that Heijomaru was there for the lesson; once the furniture had been moved to make way from him (there may have been suppressant and illusory seals employed as well, but who could tell for certain?).

Together the duo span tall tales of great battles and missions gone awry; described places that no longer existed in the way they remembered. What fascinated Shikako the most was the techniques her Grandmother described; the ones Sembei knew herself, and the ones she'd seen used in her long military career, and then the _others._ The ones that were beyond understanding, some so wondrous that even Sembei could only guess at them. Shikako took exhaustive notes on **everything** ; and the endless Tricks the old woman learned in her time.

There was so much to learn from this woman. It made Shikako burn to know she couldn't apply them _,_ couldn't even _practice_ them in some cases _;_ swaddled as she was in the overzealous protectiveness of her father's affection.

When she voiced her complaint to the room, Heijomaru huffed fondly at her; much more familiar with Shikako's quirks after long hours in her company.

"You are of course welcome to train in our lands, Daughter of the Forest. It will not be quite the same as here in your own realm. However, I suspect that the distance may be welcomed."

'It's official!' Shikako thought to herself in frustration. 'I am the world's dumbest smart person.'

"Many thanks Heijomaru-San; I will take you up on that offer." She said with as much dignity as she could muster, then performed the necessary hand seals without making eye contact with anyone else in the room.

Shikako wondered how long they had been sitting on this _obvious_ solution, as she forced reality to twist around her like that find in training ground 44. It was only a _little difficult_ \- the Chakra wanted to 'call out', rather than 'pull', but Shikako made it work.

For their part, Sembei and Hejoumaru just stared in quiet amazement at the place she had been. Summoners had to have their Summons take them their realm once the pact had been made - that was how things were done.

Well, at least how they _had been_ done.

* * *

It was a delicate balance Shikako had to strike. Training desperately to get strong enough to survive, keeping up with her 'treatment plan', being subtle enough to skate under the radar without too much heat from Dad, and helping (read: forcing) her friends to grow stronger.

They had all suddenly and _completely unsubtly_ become fascinated with various non chakra-intensive pursuits. Research projects on animal husbandry, gastronomy, medicine, economics, psychology and agronomy all surfaced as one, all needing some input from her; it was like being in the twilight zone.

Not being one to waste a good opportunity though – Shikako tried to teach everyone who would sit till long enough about seals – because she couldn't think of a better way to help them keep themselves safe, than to teach them how to make unlimited explosives.

Shikamaru had become distressingly clingy, which was a big problem. Shikako had to put a lot of effort into making him do _anything_ , and dad had to halt his clan training on account of 'emotional imbalance'.

Ino was guilty and nervous and flitted between moments of intense preparation and action, and _unbelievable_ procrastination. Shikako's current major problem was _not_ an inability to go in a shopping spree!

Chouji was supportive.

Because even in a world of ninja and mind-bending illogic: there were still universal constants.

Chouji understood that Shikako _had_ to have that day, those perfect hours standing in unfiltered sunlight with her team. Shikamaru also seemed to understand, his major complaint was being left behind; pretty much the same as Kiba.

Sakura was too busy to spend much time at compound; but when she did, the medic-in-training was torn between horrified curiosity and heart-rending pity. Shikako encouraged the former as strongly as she rejected the latter. The result was both of them (and Ino, and Shikamaru as well) learning more about the various illnesses that can affect the Chakra system than most qualified Doctors.

Naruto was clearly distraught, but at least he seemed to channel this into his training. Though there was that one conversation, the day after The Visit, where Naruto had asked if there was any way to **give her** **the Kyuubi.** Naruto was convinced the Nine-Tailed Fox would be able to heal her Chakra Network. Shikako had had to do some very quick talking in order to kill that idea - eventually she'd had to reveal her Chakra Hypersensitivity, and the terrible reaction she had to the malevolent chakra of the Tailed Beast.

Naruto left that day even more miserable than when he'd come, but he still came back the next day, and the next - _because she was his teammate, and nothing would ever change that._

Naruto had the preternatural ability to say exactly what she needed to hear, exactly the moment she most needed to hear it.

He was also very good at pretending not to notice when she cried: all open arms and unqualified support.

* * *

The third week was a _bit_ better, though the level of actual privacy and freedom remained fairly steady; the _illusion_ of being able to go off on her own was a nice one.

"Though they really aren't _trying_ very hard to maintain that illusion,' Shikako notes dryly. It would have been for the best if she just hung around the training grounds; so that people could at least get some training in while obsessively stalking her. Unfortunately, 'hanging around' isn't something Shikako had much patience for these days; especially not after so long of being forced to do so for hours on end.

If she hadn't been able to do research, then Shikako would have probably _lost her mind!_

 _Really though_ , if it wasn't Shika, then it was Mum, or Kiba, or Ino, or even Sakura - and while there was some precedence in letting Ino into the clan libraries, Sakura really had no business there; outside of being Shikako's personal nursemaid. Still, Shikako was happy to be giving back to the pinkette, at least someone can benefit from this madness. She would find a lot of good resources here that were unavailable to a Clanless medic in training - even at the low level Shikako was entitled to peruse.

'Maybe this will be useful to her when she reclaims her rightful place on Team 7,' Shikako thought, and it was a distant, snarky thing: but the lance of agony that tore through her chest cavity was to close for comfort. 'They wouldn't.' She denied. She wouldn't give them an excuse: she did her Iryō Ninjutsu twice as much as Kofuku demanded.

They were hers: Her boys, and her oddball teacher/brother/father figure. No one would take them from her - that's the whole point of _all of this._

It was so tiresome - in the most literal sense. She was bone weary: emotionally and physically (though she meticulously ensured that her chakra was at a reasonable level).

She needed a break.

Shikako declined to have anyone accompany her to visit Karin, and felt justified in doing so since dad had taken over her sponsor duties de facto during her _imprisonment_. Because of that little bit of thoughtfulness, she didn't have to worry about Karin being under socialised, or Naruto being excluded.

Shikako thought it would be a calm meeting between herself and someone who doesn't know her terribly well, and had only a minimal attachment to her.

Shikako does not know how she was _so wrong._

'It might be some form of Stockholm syndrome?' Shikako mused. During their previous interactions, she had categorised the Uzumaki's behaviour as conflicted - wanting to reach out to both Shikako and Naruto, but was too afraid of rejection and betrayal. Now though... she seems almost unhinged, pacing like a caged animal in her comfortable room, flipping through emotions so fast Shikako worries about the possibility of Konoha acquiring another violent, strong, red(ish)-haired medic with a multiple personality disorder.

Naruto should be here. He could make this better - or at least make it _not_ Shikako's sole responsibility.

Shikako pondered whether or not it was safe to introduce Karin and Sakura – they'd probably get on like a house on fire. As a ninja, Shikako sometimes found it difficult to remember the exact implications of Before proverbs. Was it a good or a bad thing for houses to burn down quickly?

From the garbled words coming out the Uzumaki's mouth, Shikako thought that a large part of Karin's problem was a lack of knowledge.

This was something Shikako could fix.

She reached out and pulled the refugee down to sit on the bed and sat close beside her - hoping that physical contact would help to improve the red-heads disposition. Then Shikako began a long lecture on the nature of Chakra Instability, the causes, effects, breakdown of mortality rates and the associated physiological effects – i.e. what _exactly is it_ that would kill her (if she actually had it). It was a beautifully comprehensive verbal dissertation, drawing on many high level, highly specialised texts, and had been put together painstakingly by Sakura.

Shikako had the sneaking suspicion that she was being used as some kind of extra credit assignment; though he'd tactfully refrained from mentioning that to anyone.

"It has a fatality rate of 78%?" Is all the other girl had to say afterwards, in a low voice.

Distantly, Shikako felt somewhat annoyed and disappointed that Karin had missed so much of the dialogue. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to reiterate the problems with applying that statistic to _this_ case due to factors like overall health, early diagnosis and the fact that, as a sensor with unusually good chakra control and the ability to use healing techniques, Shikako was almost certain to make a full recovery; _supposing she was even ill in the first place._

Unfortunately, that discussion had to be shelved for the time being, as Karin had one again lost her precarious hold on her emotions.

Karin did remain seated despite her sudden explosive outburst, so at least there was that. That was probably a positive.

Shikako had to focus very hard on trying to understand what was being said: if not for being teamed with Naruto, she'd have never decoded the rapid fire steam of almost indistinguishable consonance and vowels. Karin was holding on to Shikako's arms and... Talking about how nice her chakra felt? What?

Shikako focused harder, and got something about 'velvet dark' and 'rich earth'? This girl made absolutely no sense… but hadn't she been a 'legit crazy person' Before? Who fixated on Sasuke just because of the feel of his chakra, and then became his stalker?

'Oh dear God, don't let that be what's happening now!' Shikako begged mentally: she had enough problems already!

Oh wait; this was not the time to be distracted. Now Karin seemed to be demanding something, and she pushed her sleeve up, and shoved the scarred flesh into Shikako's face. It was horrifying - endless mirrored crescent scars over every inch of exposed skin.

She understood almost immediately what the other girl wanted.

"No." Shikako said simply, _because_ **NO** "I am not a parasite." She would not be complicit in the abuse of a refugee child; nor would she damage her status as Karin's sponsor by exploiting the girl's Kekkei Genkai.

Shikako had just opened her mouth to explain that, when she noticed the glint in those ruby red eyes. She was too late to react.

Shikako had put herself at a tactical disadvantage by allowing Karin to dictate the position of her arms, and being in close quarters hampered possible evasive action.

With her right arm forced into Shikako's mouth, Karin used her left hand to push the Nara's jaw _up_ firmly, until the skin broke.

There was a moment's struggle before the healing took - if you could even call it that.

Shikako felt like she'd tried to stop a tsunami with a tea strainer.

Pervasive as air and unstoppable as the tide, Karin's 'vitality transfer' bite (like some kind of freaky reverse vampire) ploughed through Shikako's system.

It's hard to describe what happened next. Shikako felt for a moment like she would be crushed under the impossible weight of this _unending assault_ on her person - compressed down into nothing and preserved as a speck of shadow in Karin's honey-gold chakra.

A fly trapped in amber.

Except that the Chakra is for healing. It **wanted** to fix her: when she choked, it forced her to breathe; when her nervous system shut down from overstimulation, the Chakra took over her autonomous functions; and when her chakra network collapsed under the onslaught, the gold chakra corralled it back into place, and enclosed it firmly in strictly controlled ducts.

It felt like putting a perfectly contoured metal glove over the petals of a flower still in bloom.

It was the strangest thing Shikako had ever experienced. _Hands down._

Shikako blinked up at the inoffensively cream coloured ceiling, utterly discombobulated and trying to wrest back conscious control over her breathing and motor functions.

"So, ah, you're okay now… then?" Karin said sounding somewhat abashed from a distance away.

She did, as a matter of fact. More... **solid** somehow. It was bizarre, Karin's chakra was wrapped around her own like pipework. Or, an embankment constructed to preserve the integrity of a river that regularly busts its banks.

Shikako carefully examined and memorised the feel and pattern of the foreign chakra in her system. Amazingly, it didn't even feel very different - mimicking the feel of her own fairly convincingly. Karin's special healing technique was impressive, and fascinating; Shikako pushed down the desire to study it for a later date.

For the first time, Shikako genuinely considered that she might really be ill after all.

"Yeah, I guess I am." She wasn't _even_ tried anymore; reserves full in a way they hadn't been for months.

But the taste of blood was heavy in her mouth, down the back of her throat. She wished there was some kind of preapproved etiquette on how to respond to this; the back of her mind insisted that forcing herself to be violent ill in order to throw up the blood was an entirely acceptable reaction. Shikako nixed that idea on account of giving Karin the wrong impression.

Now if she could just figure out what the right impression should be...

Shikako sat gingerly up from her prone position on the bed, angling her head down to hide the patch of skin under her chin where Karin had pressed. She felt the familiar sensation of a forming mark there. Hopefully the provisions in the seal would take care of this – but it never hurt to be careful.

At least Karin seemed calmer now; having bled off her reserves of excess energy into the healing. She was standing on the opposite side of the room now, once again affecting a look of disdainful boredom, with only occasional twitches to give away her anxiety.

'Total headcase' Shikako decided. 'Prescription: Yamanaka Ino'– the Nara could tell that she was simply unequal to _that_ task. The groundwork had to be laid though, or Karin would go mad down here by the time she was allowed back up topside.

Shikako stood and made her way over to the Uzumaki, who became more and more rigid with every step.

Karin looked fit to shatter by the time the Nara stood in front of her.

Words were clumsy things, so Shikako decided to bypass them for the moment. Carefully and deliberately, she activated the Mystic Palm Jutsu, and pressed it against the blooded patch of Karin's arm.

Her face might have been carved from stone; but her eyes were expressive - raw, and searching and _more_ than Shikako could understand.

"I am not a parasite." She said, finally breaking the oppressive silence to reiterate that point. _This is important_ , because Karin can't go about thinking she can just force healing on anybody when they've said no. And while this village is **not perfect** , it's better than _this_ ; exploiting an abused child. Or maybe it's not. Not yet; but it will be by the time Naruto's done with it.

 _'Be the change you want to see in the world_... or something...'

"I am not going to use you. I refuse to be another scar on your body."

Shikako pulls the two of them back to sit on the bed when the jutsu was done. She took a moment to plan a _Serious Discussion_ on the rights of the patient to refuse treatment (barring circumstances where the individual is not mentally fit to do so, or is an enemy); and how it would be for the best if they didn't mention that incident - as it may be considered a breach of conduct from either side. Shikako may be accused of taking advantage of the Uzumaki's Kekkei Genkai, or Karin might be penalised for administering unsanctioned and unasked for healing.

But first, and Shikako's mind distantly can't help but point out the irony, she talked to Karin about valuing herself. 'It's different,' Shikako reminded herself. 'Karin is _canon:_ I fell through a gap between worlds.'

"I sponsored you, yes because Naruto is a brother to me, and you could be his family; but I would have done it _anyway,_ if I knew how you were treated in Grass. You are a person, not a _battery_ or a **brood mare**. You have a right to life, and you belong here; can belong here - if you want." Shikako knew that if Karin did happen to catch that slip, she'd attribute it to something else. Reality, in this case, would simply _never_ be the first guess.

After a full debate on the merits and bye-laws of 'the right to die', and why it was considered a breach of faith for Shikako to have accepted the bloodline enhanced healing; she settled in for the most difficult topic yet.

 _Because they hadn't talked enough about feelings already._

"I think that we need to talk about you now." Shikako says softly, after promising to bring in records of the vows and regulations that bind Medic-nin.

Karin switched from engaged and interested to **blank** so fast it gave Shikako emotional whip-lash just to see it.

"Your circumstances have changed a lot in a very short amount of time. You might feel like you owe me something - but you _don't_. I made my choices; gave you this chance. Now you have to grab hold of it with both hands. You have to make your own way. I'd prefer it, obviously, if Naruto factored into your plans, just a little – but this is _your_ second chance. It's not dependent on you helping me, or doing what I want – or what Naruto wants. Even if I did die, _which I am not presently doing,_ then you would be fine. This village has good people in it, who would help you… if you need it..." That was a lot of words, Shikako realised, her throat felt dry. She hoped that the point was understood, that it didn't get lost somewhere in all that chatter. Shikako wished she was better at people.

Karin had a complicated look on her face again, and Shikako had to physically stop herself from talking about the weather, or something, just to put off taking about things with real substance.

"So tell me, Uzumaki Karin." Shikako requested, firm but gentle, as she looked into misty red eyes. "How do you feel about being here? About your future here in Konohagakure? About your new family?'

"You don't have to say anything." She added, because that was important too. Shikako had had enough of _command_ to last a lifetime. She wouldn't be subjecting this girl to her orders. "But I'll ask you not to lie. That wouldn't be helpful. If you're not honest about what you want - I can't help you get it." 'That made sense, right? Please make it make sense – _I can't_ **do** _thi_ s!'

There was a silence then, vast and consuming; and Shikako thought she'd read the situation all wrong; that the red-head didn't want to confide in her after all. She was about to leave, to go and grab Naruto and keep him down here until his Charisma no Jutsu fixed everything; but then Karin started to speak.

She spoke slowly. Halting. Sometimes barely more than a whisper of sound, other times she was almost screaming. Most of the time she wasn't even speaking to Shikako. Karin just spoke. For herself. Knowing that someone else would listen.

That was a more _powerful_ thing than any motivational speech or pep talk.

Shikako only noticed she'd been there for over three hours, when the fleeting presence of an ANBU darted across her senses presumably checking up on the pair of them. Karin noticed too, and stuttered to a stop.

The momentum was gone after that, and the visit drew to a close soon after.

Karin obviously needed time to herself, to reflect on the childhood she'd spoken about, and the fear she felt at having people in her live that she wanted to protect; and to plan her future.

Shikako promised to be back tomorrow with Naruto, and decided to risk a quick hug on the way out - she thought they were probably close enough for hugs now.

* * *

Unfortunately, over the next few days, the regulatory perimeter made by Karin's chakra started to fade away.

This made sense, in a way. Karin would probably have healed Kimimaro if she was able to cure chronic or terminal illnesses.

The reprieve was nice though - Shikako never realised how much work went into keeping her system stable until the burden was lifted.

Shikako kept up with the prescribed Iryō Ninjutsu, but also worked on replicating Karin's technique - so far to no affect.

It was a week before the tournament when Shikako demanded a check-up on her condition.

This time she got an actual Hyuuga _medic_ \- an older female branch member with bandages covering her forehead.

The process itself was fairly painless - with lots of creepy staring, and the old woman (Irona-sensei) performing the Reinforcement technique herself.

It was uncomfortable, but Shikako held fast. The Hyuuga's chakra was cold and bright - basically the antithesis of Shikako's own.

Irona-sensei then informed the two Nara that the severity of the previous diagnosis must have been overstated. She recommended a period Medical Investigation, which would likely lead to being on 'light duty' with regular check-ups and chakra therapies, until the situation was resolved satisfactorily.

Kofuku-oba was not convinced, and demanded a second opinion. The old healer stared at her dryly, "Every _trained_ Hyuuga will tell you the same thing," and the 'trained' in that sentence had some pretty condescending emphasis on it; reminding Shikako that her own family issues were pittance to those of others "and there are no longer trained Uchiha to get an alternate perspective from." And that was that, really.

Shikako insisted that she get her revised diagnosis and treatment plan in writing, so she could prove to everyone that she was right.

Unfortunately, though; she did still have Chakra Instability, and her attempts to lever herself back into the exam were met by twin looks of disbelief, and were summarily dismissed by both elders - from the looks they gave each other, it might have been the first point of agreement they'd ever struck.

* * *

Notes: Wow, talk about a negative reaction from some of you. I feel that people may need to focus more on avoiding fatalism in the way they approach new ideas. The condition is just another thing for Shikako to overcome, it's not a **gravestone**.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story :) As usual, most of it just ambushed me as I wrote it.


	12. Chapter 12 Chūnin Exams Part 10 3rd Exam

Chapter 12 Chūnin Exams Part 10

* * *

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." Herm Albright

* * *

She made sure _everyone_ knew that her diagnosis was downgraded from _'career ending/_ **impending death** _'_ to 'serious, but treatable'.

They all demanded to see the, increasingly crumpled, doctor's note before they believed her. Which made her feel only slightly offended.

"I told you so," is all she would say to anyone in the matter.

Never mind that the full record was full of caveats like 'presumably early stage' and 'Cause Unknown: see pre-existing Chakra Hypersensitivity' before it started that permanent medical retirement from active service would result if the Hypersensitivity was demonstrably the cause of her illness.

There was no cure for Hypersensitivity; no more than there was for being tall, or blue eyed. It was just the way some small number of people are.

Being 'under medical review' was so much better than being on medical leave.

Everyone was still clingy, and followed her around; but they didn't try to stop her anymore.

Her tactic of being aggressively and relentlessly upbeat _at them_ was usually enough to knock the wind out of their sails.

Ino was there when she used modified storage seals to remove chunks of rock from the landscape - though she did protest the manipulation to close the holes over. The Yamanaka heiress walked away with a look of fierce contemplation, and a scroll full of several tones of dense earth, at the end of the day.

Pretty much the same thing happened the next morning with Shika, only with the Water Seal.

Shikako got to see Hinata and Lee again, which was… nice… kind of. Lee was immeasurably supportive if **EVERYTHING** Shikako was doing, and invited her to his and Gai-sansei's 'Early Morning, **Springtime of Youth** Training Sessions' as soon as he was out of hospital. He and Shikako were the only ones certain of that eventuality, and he looked immensely grateful for her easy acceptance of his assertion. Everyone else looked sadly at them; and were _soundly ignored_ by both medically challenged nin.

But... wasn't that a _tough_ decision? Extra (if eventual) training with Lee and Gia-sensei…

Could she afford to spend time around _that much_ crazy?

Could she afford not to?

In the end, Shikako agreed to drop in occasionally, Taijutsu wasn't ever going to be her specialism after all.

Tenten was there for the tail-end of the visit, so Shikako got to talk about her favourite thing with a fellow enthusiast, which was nice. Tenten also seemed not to be overly pitying of Shikako's circumstance, which was even better. Friends were made that day.

Hinata was horrified to have heard about Shikako's condition; and had to be assured that her Jūken strikes hadn't contributed to the Nara's condition. Shikako didn't know for a fact that they hadn't, but she _sure as hell_ wasn't going to let Hinata know that.

Those were beautiful, wonderful days, despite everything that had gone wrong so far. Shikako got to spend time with all the rookies; helping everyone with strategy (except Shino, but he waived off her apology as unnecessary – because he was awesome and understanding like that) and training, and generally just got to be around them.

'This is what you're protecting,' She reminded herself, with an odd combination of determination and contentment 'this is worth _all of it_. **They** are worth _anything_.'

She even managed to wrangle a visit to Kakashi and Sasuke at the canyon – under the proviso that she took her brother.

"But Kakashi-sensei was very clear about the... Level of discretion he expects from visitors." Shikako protested, purposefully vague due to Shikamaru's presence.

"Then I guess he'll have to learn." There was a hint of wry humour there that had been missing from their interactions for weeks. They weren't where they were before the incident. Shikaku was still feeling guilty, as though he thought he had failed some critical aspect of parenthood. And Shikako was still upset about him limiting her ability to prepare; treating her like an invalid.

She still hated herself for making him look like he had then; those dark moments in the examination room... what he must have suffered...

Shikako grinned tentatively at her father as the implications of his worlds became clear, and he reached out gently to smooth her hair down.

She still couldn't feel him.

Hadn't ever since that day - and now every second spent in Dad's company she was straining to feel _anything,_ **anything** **at all** from him.

Shikamaru groaned loudly. Shikako and Naruto had both, ah – _extolled_ _the virtues_ of Kakashi-sensei's lessons.

They did go, in the end, two days before the 3rd exam was due to start.

After the events of the day at the hospital, with Gaara making his appearance, Shikako was eager to see her other teammate for herself, just to be sure he was okay. It was scary to think of the _Fact_ that Gaara was the 'nice' enemy in this scenario. That this blood thirsty, certifiably insane, psycho-killer was **still** preferable to the evil that had driven her other teammate out of their village.

She was unbelievably, _incalculably,_ **more** motivated to get out the door as _soon as possible_ after dad had given her the 'new coordinates' for their location.

 _'Why is there a new location?'_

Her father had said only that there had been an _incident_. Then their eyes meet, and Shikako **knew** exactly what kind of incident has occurred.

She barely slept that night - too caught up in wondering just what had happened to Sasuke. The cursed seal hadn't integrated. Shikako would've sensed it, if _that_ had happened. But there were too many possibilities. Was Sasuke okay? What about Kakashi-sensei? All she knew for certain was that they weren't dead, or ensnared by soul-eating seals.

There was too much distance between 'alright', and aforementioned states for any kind of comfort.

This hadn't happened Before. Shikako was sure of it.

And why would it have? The seal had taken Before, so _why_ would the Sanin come back?

She should have seen this coming, Shikako realised. Parts of her Before knowledge were already useless; with Karin here, and Sasuke unbranded - the knock on effects could change _everything_.

And Orochimaru might even have another goal during the invasion this time around. He would still want to kill his old teacher, yes; but he might also be compelled to track down his next body.

So far all of Shikako's plans have centred around getting her team out of the free-for-all warzone of the stadium, and into the fight with the sand siblings - and then dealing with that 'small matter'.

Now though... How could she fight Orochimaru? **Really**? She was not capable and meaningful defence or retaliation against _That Thing._

Avoidance, then.

'There's _no way_ he'd fall for the reverse summons again.'

She needs something else, something quicker... more versatile... Like a reverse summons that could pull someone into a safe location... Something like that could be very useful, especially with the upcoming Jinchuuriki hunt.

Somehow, the answers to Shikako's problems always seem to be high powered techniques she's incapable of using. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and the Hiraishin featured distressingly often.

Shikako also daydreamed wistfully about making a Time Turner – but 'terrible things happen to wizards who meddle with time' and Shikako wasn't willing to play with the space-time continuum any more than she already was. At least until the situation became truly dire – then all bets were off.

If she could just 'tag' people with seals, and then pull them to a safe spot when the need struck - then everything would be golden.

Hang on... that was not a description of the Flying Thunder God...

But it was familiar...

The heaven and earth scrolls from the exams!

They were the perfect solution!

... Now if only she could remember _anything_ about them...

Shikako really had been shattered at the time...

Thinking about it now... she couldn't even recall opening the damn scrolls – she should have just kept one in reserve, rather than handing them all over to Ibiki.

'Hind sight is 20/20,' she thought with a scoff. _'The universe is not without a sense of irony.'_

Overtired and overstressed, Shikako gave up on them for tonight as a bad job. Maybe Sasuke had gotten a good look at them...

She still needed diversionary tactics - if only someone would teach her one, just one, 'blast' type wind Jutsu, then Shikako was sure she could do _wonderfully_ distracting things.

Shikako scraped an hour of sleep, _maybe_ , before she began their preparations to leave.

Shikako marshalled them out of the door impatiently, fully disguised, and dark 'n early.

It didn't escape her notice that four muted signatures dogged their steps. Shikako flashed her brother the Team 7 sign language for '4' and 'allies acknowledged', which she had been teaching him for the past few days. It was useful for silent and secure communication, as well as identification purposes. It also gave the _poor baby_ a chance to recover between bouts of Motivational Sparring.

From her far left, Shikako felt the slipperiest of the hidden guard falter slightly.

She pondered why as they moved.

The ANBU had understood the content of the message, if the way he suddenly vanished from hey senses was any indication. Did he know it from being teamed with Kakashi-sensei? Or was Kakashi teaching Team 7 ANBU sign language? The others hadn't reacted, but that one (whose chakra had the deep earthy scent of fresh tree sap) _was_ the best placed to have seen her hands.

She didn't figure out the answer in the end - but at least it gave her something else to think about for a little while.

Shikako had convinced herself of a million terrible things by the time they arrived.

It was almost a pleasant surprise to them both with all their arms and legs still firmly attached.

Kakashi-sensei, who looked the same as ever, had clearly been expecting the two of them.

Sasuke, who on the other hand was looking a little worse for wear, was just as clearly surprised and overjoyed to see her. With only the most cursory nod to Shikamaru, Sasuke began grilling Shikako over her health.

After a few fruitless minutes of trying to convince the Uchiha that she was fine, Shikako gave up and handed over the, now very worn, doctors note.

He even checked it with his Sharingan for signs of forgery.

 _'The cheek!'_

No amount of asking could make either of them divulge what 'The Incident' was. It made Shikako feel a sudden pity for everyone who didn't have her future knowledge - how did they cope with so many mysteries being beyond their reach?

Well, she was about to find out: wasn't she?

'It would seem... that in my efforts to change the future,' Shikako lamented 'I have in fact, changed the future...'

'What a bother.'

Seeing them again was lovely though - and Sasuke firmly cemented his position as Shikako's favourite person of the day, by being able to perfectly recreate the image of the 'Chunin Summoning Scroll'.

Kakashi-sensei had opened his mouth, then closed it very deliberately. Clearly he was a man who understood the virtues of plausible deniability.

They talked, and laughed, and when Sasuke had tried to hold back on their spar; Shikako cheerfully enhance her speed and strength to the max, and decimated his flimsy defence.

Thankfully, that seemed to set the record straight - and from there the 'Taijutsu only' spar was a lot more equal, and the races were loads of fun – especially when Kakashi-sensei forced an incredulous Shikamaru to participate.

Her twin looked at her like he'd never seen her before, which made her feel both sad and proud all at once.

Afterwards, Shikako showed them her Touch Blast.

Really it was more a case of 'showing off'. She simply said "Watch this, Jiraiya-sama helped me develop it" and picked up a first sized rock, webbed a powerful and concentrated explosive formula across its surface, and lobbed it has hard as she could into the air.

It was _fanatically_ bright and **loud** , and it made all the ANBU flinch.

She grinned at the pained look on Kakashi-sensei's face, and told him about some of the other ideas and seals she had in the works - all that time being forced to study in plain sight had been good for her sealing capabilities; even if it had made her consider fratricide a time or two.

They talked strategy for hours, and Shikako handed over a Water Seal, an Earth Needle Seal (not original, but it was long, and tapered a bit at the end), and her strongest Lightning Discharge Seal. As well as a LOT of regular explosive seals, obviously. Sasuke looked both grateful and terrified.

They left a few hours before sundown, and Shikako called out cheerfully for Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke not to be late as she, her brother, and a different set of ANBU set off back to the village.

'So that's how Dad had managed to swing an ANBU escort for two Genin; integrating it into the changing of the guard. Very clever.' She thought, probably the reason for the 'delay tactic' of having to teach Shika stealth techniques.

* * *

On the day of the invasion, Shikamaru was back to complaining about his match with Shino as they walked through empty streets to the stadium. Shikako couldn't say she blamed him – it really was the worst possible matchup, as long as you weren't accounting for Gaara.

Shikako had been officially returned to active (if light) duty yesterday; which her father hadn't been happy about. That was the moment it occurred to her that the higher-ups might actually know about the invasion – and intended to turn it into a statement of Konohas strength. Dad had probably been hoping to shuffle her off to some bunker safely out of the way.

'Sorry, not-sorry Dad.'

Shikako was aware that some seemed a bit suspicious about why she wanted to be declared medically fit _specifically_ before the Third Exam. Playing up the ' _safer'_ idea, Shikako 'tried' to convince the Irona-sensei and Kofuku-oba (who had invited herself along again) to readmit her into the exams.

Being stubborn had to be an easier sell than _clairvoyance._

"Nara-chan," Irona began huffily, white eyes dark with outraged disbelief. "Do you not understand the _meaning_ of the term _'Light Duty'?_ In case you need clarification, the Chūnin Examinations do _not_ fall under that category." Here the old woman gave Kofuku-oba a filthy look, as though she was somehow to blame for 'the child's pig-headed foolishness'.

They bickered like Naruto and Sasuke!

Shikako learned two things yesterday. 1: It is _very easy_ to annoy healers, but it's probably for the best if you can avoid doing it, and 2: Irona and Kofuku were Ancient/Eternal Rivals of some description – nothing else could explain the 'frenemy' thing they had going on.

Brining herself back to the situation at hand, Shikako examined again the shinobi filled stands. They definitely knew the invasion was coming, she concluded.

It seemed so egregiously foolhardy and risky that Shikako wondered if this response had been engineered by Danzo specifically to kill off the Third.

There was nervous tension in the air, and Shikako wondered if she was really the only rookie to see it…

Eventually, after the well-wishing was done, the non-participants made their way to the stands. Shikako even motioned a rather lonesome looking Tenten over – because having a ranged weapons specialist when doing battle with a Jinchuuriki, and his poison using brother, could never be a bad thing.

Shikako was entirely unsurprised that Sasuke failed to turn up when the proctor called the contestants to attention.

Shikako failed to pay even the slightest bit of attention to content of the Hokage's speech; she was too busy trying to identify enemies and their weaknesses ahead of the crush.

The first match was interesting – Shikako recognised the Kunai Strategy for what it was almost immediately, but it was a joy to watch. The discussion taking place around her was a pleasant distraction, especially with Tenten there to be the voice of dissent.

Both members of Team Gai were _determined_ to underestimate Naruto, which would make the reveal so much sweeter. The Weapons Mistress was certain of her teammate's victory – even if she seemed to _wish_ that he would be taken down a notch. She looked very bored with all this talk about destiny, and Shikako imagined that the poor girl must suffer a lot with both Neji and Lee for teammates. The Nara resolved to think of this the next time her boys annoyed her; things could always be worse.

 _And then they were worse._

Hinata was coughing up blood, and _who_ should come to their aid but _Kabuto_?

He appeared by Shikako's side, and looked her dead in the eye as he offered his services as a healer. He knew that she knew who he was, and he also knew that Shikako realised she stood no chance in direct combat with him.

Shikako could hear the malicious smile behind that stolen mask.

After a quick calculation, Shikako made her choice. She picked up Hinata herself, and carried her out of the way for the 'ANBU' to heal the Hyuuga heiress. It wasn't the smart play, if Kabuto wanted to attack – but that didn't seem to be his objective this time.

With Hinata laid out between them, Shikako kept her hands resolutely on Hinata's chest – still emitting the green light of the Diagnostic Jutsu. Kabuto huffed a laugh that only Shikako would hear, and obligingly brought his hands to rest beside her smaller pair. "Precocious child." He murmured softly, and the cold amusement in his voice made Shikako want to scream for backup.

Shikako could feel him at work with her Jutsu active… and he was truly, _unbelievably_ , good at healing. Under his precise command, the weakened heart muscle strengthened, returning Hinata's pulse and blood pressure back to acceptable levels. Then he set to work on the damage to the delicate capillaries in the alveolar tissue of her lungs. He even managed to clear the blood now clogging up the Hyuuga's lungs. Flawless; not a speck of wasted chakra, or a single damaged cell left behind.

'Why does he have to be a bad guy?' Shikako lamented silently, he could have been the 2nd coming of Tsunade-sama.

Then his chakra crept through Hinata and into Shikako; just the barest mercury whisper against her chakra sense. She met his eyes again, and lifted her lip in warning. She was ready to react to any aggression in a moment, and enclosed his chakra, limiting it to her hands.

"Now, now," He chided in a whisper "I'm only having a look."

With forced stillness, Shikako allowed the metallic kiss of his chakra to twist amongst the meat, tendons, and chakra pathways of her hands. If he had pushed, she would have – well Shikako didn't quite know, so it's a good thing he didn't.

He was especially interested in the chakra pathways, his own steel green power brushing up against the recently strengthened walls. When he intentionally destabilised one of the circuits in her left hand, Shikako twisted her active healing Jutsu into a mimicry of the Reinforcement Jutsu, and pushed a flash of the Lightning Natured chakra she'd been building to her fingertips threateningly.

"Truly fascinating Nara-chan," The depraved medic whispered, for her ears only, as he disengaged and rose from his crouched position.

"You should go back to watching the match. It's quite interesting, isn't it?" Kabuto said to the assembled group, and disappeared from their sight.

There was more talking from everybody, but Shikako didn't register it. Her chakra perception was blown wide, and she took in all the information she possibly could. She needed to get everyone, and herself, as far away from Kabuto as possible.

Wait.

Kakashi-sensei was here? And Sasuke too.

Why are they hiding? What?

In the distance, Naruto was smacking Neji into the ground, and being declared victorious – so Shikako cheered with the rest of the rookies, but it was an imitation of their behaviour, rather than a true response of her own.

Kakashi and Sasuke were _right there_ as the proctors debated what to do next. Why?

Presumably they wanted to drag the tournament out as much as possible – but if that's the case, why did they not just schedule the Gaara vs Sasuke fight to be the last?

Whatever – unimportant. They were here, so Orochimaru hadn't got them. That was all that mattered.

* * *

With the match over, Shikako tried to discreetly 'go to the lady's room', and find someone reasonably trustworthy to run crying to, but the moment she stood, Kabuto's chakra changed. It was still all bound up, but now t glittered sharply - a true knife-edge to it. A warning.

Sitting back down, Shikako muttered something about being to excited about the match to go. The gleaming chakra died down, settling back into its previous flow easily.

Shikako can take a hint.

From down in the arena Hayate coughed before calling out to say. "One of the competitors for the next battle has not arrived yet so we're going to postpone this match and continue with the next fight."

Ino and Temari's match came next, and it really was impressive. Shikako focused on it to alleviate some of her blind panic.

In out and out, honest combat – Ino stood no chance against this seasoned Heavy-Combat Specialist. Fortunately, shinobi confrontations were very rarely 'honest', and Ino was happy to use psychological warfare, poisons and explosive seals to even the playing field.

First Ino laid her trap, then she dulled her opponents' reactions, then she let Temari think her jibes had gotten under the Yamanaka's skin. It was masterful, and clearly meticulously planned. Shikako felt proud of her friend. As she told the others, Ino wasn't a close combat fighter – but it didn't matter, because of the relentless training and strategizing she'd been doing all month; Ino was holding her own.

Then Ino unleashed several tonnes of stone above Temari's head, driving the older teen into the waiting wire trap and rapidly Mind-Body Switched with her opponent while the Sand kunoichi was dazed.

To have increased her physical speed, and the speed of her Clan Jutsu, so much in just a month was quite an achievement.

"I forfeit!" Exclaimed Ino breathlessly from Temari's body, and she _won._ Not because she was better than the Kazekage's daughter – but because she had been smart and resourceful. And also because Temari had been fighting conservatively in preparation for the impending invasion – but still! Victory! Shikako cheered brightly and genuinely this time, happy to have contributed in some small way to the blonds' success.

As they bantered up in the cheap seats, Shikako wondered if Ino would be promoted on the basis of that performance… and hoped not.

Not out of jealousy, or spite – though it would likely be construed that way if she ever said so out loud.

It was just that – Ino wasn't _ready_ to be Chūnin yet. She didn't have the power, and she wouldn't always have the time to make these elaborate, perfectly formulated schemes. She would be a liability as a Chūnin team leader.

'Victory is no promise of promotion.' Shikako reminded herself, Before Naruto had won against Neji and not been promoted, whereas Shika had lost against Temari and become a Chūnin.

'If Yamanaka Ino gets promoted from this – she will be spending the next several months training with me and Team: **Power Of Youth** until she is strong enough to bear the position.' Shikako decided as Hayate called the next round to begin.

Shika and Shino was another good match-up, with two Clan based strategists.

It was funny how many people though Shika would be defeated on the basis of his academy scores and lazy personality – how they missed that genius brain was entirely beyond Shikako.

It was a close call in the end, and once again Shikako's sealing had been the equaliser. She hoped that Shino wasn't too mad – and that now everyone would finally pay attention when she taught them seals!

She just didn't understand why so many of her friends were plainly uninterested by the art of Fuinjutsu. It was total madness!

All around her, the crowd was becoming restless again; jeering and yelling as the minutes dragged on without more action.

 _'What on earth are you waiting for, sensei?'_ Shikako wondered.

Hayate coughed before raising his hand. "The time limit has expired, so I'm officially calling this match-"

There was a spike of chakra and a gust of swirling leaves in the arena.

"Sorry we're late. You wouldn't believe the traffic."

Shikako groaned because 'How is this man a respected Jōnin of the leaf? You are _so embarrassing_ Sensei!'

Gai and Lee materialised then,

"Such a hip and cool entrance, my Eternal Rival. Forcing us all to wait for you like that…"

Shikako smiled and greeted them.

She was only too happy to confirm to Lee that Naruto had defeated Neji, and then offered him a seat because he looked battered as all hell. What _had_ they been up to?

Then Ino turned up, glowing with pride, and eager to see 'Sasuke-kuns' fight.

The bench pretty crowded by now, with Lee next to Tenten, and Ino next to Chouji.

It was a good thing Gai-sensei was content to stand in the isle, especially since Kakashi-sensei turned up soon after.

"What's up with Hinata?" Ino asked, eyeing her where she was propped up against Kiba's side.

Shikako blithely explained that the ANBU Cat had healed the Hyuuga heiress, but caught Kakashi-sensei's eye deliberately. Her fingers curled gently into the hand sign 'person; suspicious', and then twitched her fingers deliberately twice more under the guise of playing with her hair. 'Traitor' and 'helmet' the Nara signed, hoping she was as discreet as she needed to be.

Kakashi-sensei signed back 'acknowledged', and outwardly apologised for making her worry.

When Shikako denied being worried, the assembled group _stared_ with raised eyebows… okay so she was a little nervous… but not about Kakashi-sensei being late!

Kakashi-sensei tried to placate her, scratching the back of his head. "Mah, mah, don't be angry. I wasn't going to let Sasuke be disqualified."

She huffed. "At least you got to see Naruto's match. Make sure you tell him you're proud, he did fantastically!" Shikako demanded sourly, it really was the least he could do.

The reaction was slight, but Shikako saw it. She grinned toothily up at him when he deflected her comment with a vacuous non-answer question.

"So he beat Neji?" Kakashi affected a tone of mild, but pleased, surprise.

"Beat him," Kiba scoffed. "Naruto _owned_ him. The match was a complete domination. I don't feel so bad about losing to him now."

Lee stared at him in round eyed surprise.

"I still can't believe it, but it really happened." Tenten confirmed, looking like she was still in the process of reevaluating her entire world-view.

The conversation was cut off as Hayate called the commencement of the final match of the first round.

"Begin."

Shikako braced herself for action, because the Genjutu would fall soon, and Sasuke was in so much danger already.

 _'Don't you dare get hurt, Sasuke._ You know the rules _–_ absolutely _no dying!'_ She thought to herself, somewhat hysterically.

Sasuke's speed was incredible, almost too fast for Shikako to follow. Sand disintegrated under his strikes, and she knew that soon those blows would find the Ichbi Jinchuuriki. She knew what would follow that too…

Gia and Lee were talking, but Shikako didn't listen to what they had to say.

 _Oh_ , Lee being there reminded her.

"Kakashi-sensei," Shikakio called out chirpily without taking her eyes off the arena "you'll be please to know that I'm officially back on active duty!" 'And you now have no reason to exclude me from the battle that is about to take place,' she continues mentally.

He might have replied, but Shikako didn't hear anything because Sasuke had just landed a blow on Gaara's face, and quickly darted back out of range.

He also tried for some good old-fashioned trash-talk, but Gaara didn't take the bait.

Sasuke put his agility training to good use, until Gaara's sand formed a constantly moving circle in anticipation of his movements… then he dove over it to strike Gaara in the centre; the blows hammered audibly against the sand armour.

Gaara sank to one knee, breathing heavily and... was moaning in pain? Already?

Lee pointed out the toll this enhanced speed was taking on the Uchiha. And he was right. Sasuke was panting, having burned though a lot of chakra forcing that speed.

Gai and Kakashi-sensei talked about Sasuke's training, and Shikako listened with half an ear. Its official – the Sharingan was officially OVERPOWERED. Just _remembering_ the way someone fought meant you could copy them perfectly?

' _That is_ **so** _unfair.'_

Chouji pointed out that it was impossible for Sasuke to win using Lee's tactics, but Kakashi assured them it was all in hand.

Below, the situation was coming to a head, Sasuke taunting Gaara and dodging in and out of waves of sand. Gaara was looking terrifyingly psychotic at that moment, clutching his head and gasping out death threats.

His sand began returned to him, forming an impassable protective cocoon that grew spikes when Sasuke tried to attack.

Eventually, Sasuke grunted, unimpressed and pulled out a familiar scroll. He flicked the catch open, and threw it open in a straight line over the top of Gaara's dome. Then it activated, and an immense wave of water came thundering down.

People were talking, but Shikako was silent, silent with anticipation.

It wasn't as good as she'd hoped, but there was still an obvious weakening of the sand fortress; the shell of it was cracked and only moving sluggishly to repair itself. It was clearly waterlogged. But it still wasn't enough for Sasuke to get at Gaara.

Sasuke retreated up the wall, and started gathering chakra.

Kakashi conformed Gai's suspicions and Sasuke struggled to activate the technique.

'Look at all that bleed off…' Shikako lamented. Sasuke didn't realise yet that he couldn't afford to waste so much of his chakra. Not today. Things were going to be very difficult if they need to rely on Sasuke using that Jutsu – Shikako reworked some of her potential plans.

When Chouji enquired after the nature of the technique, Gai, oddly enough, was the one to reply.

His explanation was actually a very interesting one… Shikako had though it was a very difficult Lightning Jutsu, but if it was a physical jab delivered with only speed and focus and raw chakra… that changed things.

Called Chidori for the sound, or the Lightning Blade; because it could cut a bolt of lightning in half before it reached the ground, rather than because it _was_ lightning itself...

How fascinating. Shikako wanted to hear that story.

"Yeah, right," Ino muttered, disbelieving. "These old guys and their war stories."

Then Gai and Kakashi-sensei bickered, which Shikako put a stop to by comparing the Chidori to the Third Raikage's Hell Stab.

Kakashi-sensei's was not impressed by the comparison, by Gai-sensei laughed heartily. He did say that there were similarities, but also large differences.

He did not explain the differences, though, and Shikako wasn't going to ask since Sasuke had started running, and wouldn't have listened to the response anyway.

As he moved, one handed, the Uchiha he tossed another open scroll at the the sphere of sand.

It discharged before Sasuke touched the ground, which was good: 'electrocuted self to death' was not something anyone wanted on their tombstone.

The effects of the Lightning Seal were much more pronounced than the Water Seal (or else were _enhanced_ by it), and large swathes of beige armour crumbled away to nothing. It was also very obviously _much harder_ for Gaara to take back control of the sand once the Earth-Natured chakra bonds had been severed by the Lightning Release.

Sasuke was a dark streak against the dull hues of the area, and his arm shot out and buried itself in hastily reforming sand.

There was a moment of silence.

Then, Gaara's scream echoed hoarsely through the stands. "Blood! It's my blood!" He sounded terrified.

Shikako couldn't help the flinch that overtook her then. Gaara was crazy, and dangerous, and psychotic… but he sounded like a terrified child…

 _'He's only twelve.'_ Shikako's heart ached.

Then Sasuke pulled free of the writhing orb and retreated to a 'safe' distance.

The sand that shot out after him was formed _differently_. No longer free floating, but a bestial looking arm, somehow stained purple in places. Gaara was beginning to transform, and the sphere collapsed fully, raining down around the Jinchuuriki and pooling at his feet.

The boy clutched his bleeding shoulder, and his breathing was raspy and _so loud_ that Shikako could hear it even from the elevated distance of the stands.

Sasuke watched from a distance, favouring his left arm slightly. Had the sand damaged him, or the Chidori?

There was a long, tense moment as they stared across the arena at one another.

Then the white feathers began to fall.

* * *

Notes: it has occurred to me that Kofuku might not be the aunt at the hospital – it's just that she was the 'R&D' person who turned up to smooth over the Control Seal mess – and then there was the point in the 'Shadow Arm Replacement Seal' where Shikako said 'It's not medical' and so I just assumed that Kofuku was a Medic who just happened to be part of R&D as well. If anyone can find that this isn't the case – pls pm me and I'll make the necessary alterations. Thanks

The Kofuku situation is now in hand.


	13. Chapter 13 Chūnin Exams Part 11 Invasion

Chapter 13 Chūnin Exams Part 11

* * *

"A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm." Henrik Ibsen

* * *

It seemed to Shikako that the world suddenly _stuttered_ as people collapsed right and left for no definable reason. The Genjutsu that caused the distortion was powerful beyond measure; it was terrifyingly easy to see how it had snared so many.

'Huh. Maybe that's why Kabuto's here?' Shikako thought hopefully, and that getting to have a look at her internal workings was merely a fortuitous aside.

Akamaru was as immune to the Genjutsu as Shikako herself, and jumped over to a groggy Kiba, who was already forming the seals for Genjutsu release. This was good - two allies awake already. Kotetsu and Izumo were in the thick of it already, and Kakashi-sensei had gone straight for the back of the stands where the illusion originated.

There was a flicker of metallic chakra.

Kakashi-sensei, it seemed, had taken her warning about 'ANBU Cat' very seriously.

Then the Kage's box exploded, billowing thick smoke out into the air. It only added to the impossible blur of motion, and crush of people were dashing to and fro. There was _too much_ to take in, but Shikako was only looking for one thing: Orochimaru. Thankfully, the Hokage seemed to be occupying the traitor's attention admirably, and Shikako wished the old man luck. She might even remember him fondly if he managed to keep The Snake away from her teammates.

Taking a breath, Shikako made a choice. Rather than push all her friends under the seating and leave them there (hoping that they _might_ escape enemy notice), she woke them up.

She laid down cover fire between jabbing her sleeping friends awake. Ino came to readily, and after a muttered "We're under attack." took a shuttered breath, drew her weapons. Chouji was next, and Kiba blocked flurry of shuriken from skewering them all. She woke Hinata and Tenten at the same moment, explaining their predicament as succinctly as possible.

Lee she lodged firmly down into the footwell. Tenten looked like she was about to protest - but Shikako just _looked_ at her firmly.

Grudgingly, Tenten let it be.

Lee would be nothing but a liability in this fight, and as a Genin with no bloodline he wasn't in any specific danger of kidnapping, or a retribution killing, while vulnerable.

Then there wasn't _time_ to think about any of that that, because enemies crawled or if the woodwork right and left. Shikako had to play the most delicate game of Replacement Tag ever - because the enemy nin were _not interested_ in preventing civilian casualties.

She even got to use her Touch Blast in a real battle for the first time - application was still much slower than she'd like.

The battle was impossibly taxing, and the Nara was hopping awkwardly around the backs of the seats, manoeuvring around unconscious bodies and trying not to have her _head kicked off_ , while also doing her best to give the others backup.

The assembled genin weren't great together - weren't teammates - but they all had at least a basic understand of each other's skills, and enough trust between them to allow each of the others to guard their back.

Kiba was especially distracted, but this was probably the first time he'd killed, and he was still managing to go through the motions of **not dying** in a warzone - so he was probably doing better than Shikako herself. She'd just _stood_ there in stunned surprise after the melody arm had exploded; almost leaving her teammates open to attack from Kabuto.

"What the hell even is this?" he said, eyes wild and his kunai still dripping blood.

"An invasion," Shikako reminded him sombrely, surely just confirming what he didn't want to acknowledge. She did _try_ for sympathy, but couldn't spare the attention to focus solely on him. She trapped a Sand Nin for Ino to switch with, and through him the Yamanaka took out two of his companions with non-lethal force.

"At least they've done us the favour of identifying themselves." She added. It really would have been very confusing if they weren't wearing uniforms. And probably have made things much harder on the unblooded Konoha nin.

Carefully, calculatedly, Shikako used the back of a chair as a Frisbee of Doom to explode a small gathering of sound ninja - why were so many soft targets **allowed** to be on this battlefield?

Shikako's inattention to her immediate surroundings was costly, forcing her to make a series of unbalanced movements in retreat across the uneven, body strewn area.

Thankfully, Konoha was a place where your comrades could be counted upon to pull your arse out of the fire when you were a moron, and Kotetsu performed that duty admirably; cutting the enemy easily down from behind.

She thanked him breathlessly as she rose, and he responded noncommittally. Because that was how things were. They were comrades - and in the end, that was that.

She was separated from the group now, but she signed for them to continue as she tried to fight her way back to them.

The sound of her own blood pumping was a thunderous roar, but Shikako listened past it, _focused_. She hadn't damaged the sleepers, and Izumo fought the blasts sole survivor.

Orochimaru and the Hokage were still locked in combat, and there were now two other high level signatures added to the mix. One of them had an unfamiliar-yet-somehow-almost-familiar chakra-feel, but Shikako didn't have the time to think about why.

Orochimaru was not headed in Sasuke's direction at the moment. That is the important thing to take away from the observation.

 _That was a relief._

She shoved aside the gibbering wreck in the back of her mind, 'now isn't the time.'

Shikako deflected more attacks, killed more enemies - tried to take in some of the more important aspects of the battle. Kotetsu was gone; back into the fray, Kiba was fighting and largely uninjured, the rest were holding their own admirably. The Jōnin-sensei present were all occupied with multiple targets, but didn't seem overly endangered. The overall skill of their attackers seemed to be at a mid-Chūnin level at the highest - which Shikako can work with.

The Sand Siblings exited stage left, Sasuke hot on their heels.

Shikako cursed as she cut down more Sound Nin: she hadn't had the chance to tag him with the 'Hearthstone/DHD Seal' – yes Shikako was unrepentant and indecisive nerd; it wasn't her biggest problem right now.

Shikako was about to chase off after her wayward teammate when a black blur flew past her position.

* * *

Kabuto, unmasked and dressed in back, called out tauntingly to Kakashi-sensei; who was fighting over a dozen enemies at once. His Sharingan was exposed, but he didn't look any worse for wear.

It was too easy to forget that sensei wasn't some harmless, goofy slacker - at least until it _really wasn't._

Then Kabuto made a grab for Shikako. _Maybe_ she would just be a hostage, but somehow the Nara doubted she was that lucky. With a level of quickness that came purely from unspeakable terror (though the deactivation of the resistance seals, and **a lot** of Chakra enhancement probably helped) she evaded his reaching arms.

As she jumped back, Shikako left her shadow behind, holding the medic traitor in place as she retreated.

Then Gai-senseis punishing blows ricocheted down the sympathetic bond, and Shikako wished she'd just run away _or something._

Shikako was still reeling on the ground when Kakashi-sensei landed lightly next to her.

"No time to be wool gathering, Shikako." He admonished gently with a very bright eye smile, and she glared sullenly up at him. "I'm sure he will _Very Youthfully_ make it up to you later." He teased; but his presence, however annoying, was a stabilising factor in this unstable situation.

When her sensei seemed to examine her scrutinisingly, Shikako instantly stood and tried to look much less afraid than she really was.

Kakashi looked like he was regretting his decision to give her the mission even as he set the parameters. Not wanting to give him any more reasons to bench her, Shikako _did not panic_ at being put in charge.

Much.

"Hai Sensei." She said, voice dry but steady. Mind a terrified whirlwind of hastily constructed and dismissed plans.

Then Kakashi summoned an incredibly cute pug... because that is the world Shikako lived in.

"Pakkun here will track down Sasuke by scent."

Then Pakkun broke the tension by being hilariously deep voiced, and offering his 'soft and supple' paw for Shikako to shake.

"Got it?" Sensei asked.

"Track Sasuke. Protect him. Stop Gaara." She summarised, in a single breath.

Shikako made her plans; and hoped to any God that might be listening, that her precious people all survived today.

"There's an opening in the back wall. Get ready. I'll cover you," he said.

Shikako nodded, and began searching for Naruto - they really needed him to have any _hope_ of success.

Quickly, she darted over to the Rookies and Tenten. Shikako flashed a hand sign that meant 'close ranks' and with their backs together, she briefed them.

"Kakashi-sensei has given us a mission. Gaara has fled the stadium and Sasuke went after him. Our job is to pursue them and back Sasuke up… and protect him from being captured."

They all stiffened, but Hinata seemed especially rigid.

"Hinata, are you combat ready?" She asked evenly. Shikako had to ask for appearances, though she already knew the answer - Hinata's lungs and heart were probably in better shape now than before Neji lost his shit.

The heiress stuttered an affirmative.

Shikako examined the Ninja under her command _– 'Why is this happening to me? No one was in charge before, that might even be the better option' -_ and picked her second. Tenten had experience on all of them, but no leadership background and only minimal knowledge of the Rookies capabilities...

"Kiba, lead everyone out of the stadium. I saw Sasuke leave over the North-West edge. See if you can catch a trail. Do not engage without backup: no matter what. I'm going to grab more reinforcements and I'll meet you in the forest."

There was an uncharacteristic seriousness in Kiba's eyes when he accepted her orders.

"Go! Godspeed." And then as they leave she pitched her voice to reach only them 'And number 1 rule: No Dying!" Because chakra enhanced vocal cords are surprisingly fun and useful.

* * *

The trip across the arena was not fun, but having Kakashi-sensei's ninken zipped into the front of her jacket was oddly comforting. Like a furry, sentient hot water bottle.

Darting round the the edges of the area was the best way to get to Naruto, swiftly she cut a bloody trail though Konoha's enemies; she had prepared for war, coming here today - even if she took great care not to show it. She had been able to pack a good deal more Sebon onto her person than she could have kunai. Her accuracy was less, sure, but a bomb is a bomb at the end of the day - whether it hits the meat of an arm or the aorta, it didn't matter once the charge detonated.

Another _fun thing_ the Forest of Death had taught her.

The ninken was a silent warm presence against her chest, and that he didn't speak up even when Shikako _knew_ that he could feel (never mind scent or hear) her desperate fear and the pounding of her heart.

It meant a lot.

Shikako slipped quietly into the box that held her brother, her teammate, her fiend, and her enemy. Using the latter's distraction in her favour, Shikako knocked out the Sound Nin with one enhanced kick.

They didn't have the time for pleasantries, so Shikako simply slammed a chakra spike into Naruto's arm, and informed the room at large that they had a mission - if they were still combat capable.

They all nodded with varying levels of enthusiasm, and Shikako lead them out.

Though Naruto looked _very confused_ by Pakkun.

When she was sure everyone was coherent enough to understand, Shikako explained again what was happening.

"We're under attack from Sound and Sand" she said shortly – for like the billionth time. "And we have a mission. Find and protect Sasuke, find and defeat Gaara. We're meeting up with others in the forest; I'll give you more details then. We'll go out the front; and up over the wall. Stay low and fast, we don't need to draw unnecessary attention here. _Eyes open_."

They got out without incident - which was a relief. And from there, Pakkun led.

Also, did Pakkun even _know_ what Sasuke smelled like?

Kiba found them soon after, bringing the rest round with him. They were a big group now that they were united. Nine nin and two ninken.

Hopefully they would be enough.

"Any trouble?" Shikako asked, as wary of good news as of bad at this point.

Kiba shook his head. "Nah. We're good."

"Right," Shikako stated - because everything had been going smoothly in the forest is death all three times it had gone horribly wrong. Chiding herself for being overly superstitious, Shikako started handing out weapons and drugs in the move - 'cause that's how she rolled... _or something._

Everyone was in serviceable condition, and the only ones at their best condition were Shikako and Tenten. All she could do was trust them to know their limits... _this was such a_ **terrible** _idea._

Why was she in charge again?

She also pulled out and divvied up explosive seals galore - she was prepared to lay siege to a small nation of it _had to_ come to that - for all that she really **didn't ever** want to go to sound, if it could _possibly_ be avoided.

Taking a deep breath, Shikako began their mission briefing.

She hoped they didn't see how terrified she was.

"Our mission is to track down Sasuke and prevent him from falling into enemy hands. Our secondary mission objective is to assist him in defeating Gaara of the Desert."

"Got it!" Naruto exclaimed cheerfully in spite of the circumstances.

As succinctly as she could manage, the younger Nara rattled off all the pertinent information, Gaara being the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, the implications of that, that his brother and sister would be protecting him. She moved on to their skills, and how they were going to deal with that - Splitting them off, weak to strong: perfectly lined up like the Mirror Seal. Everyone accepted and acknowledged the plan, so Shikako assumed that she was understood.

Ino, Kiba and Shino vs Temari.

Shika, Tenten and Hinata vs Kankuro.

It had been a tough call - Shino _had_ fought Kankuro once before, but he had battled today, and sustained too many losses to his colonies already. It would be better to have fresher opponents to face the puppeteer, so the ranged fighters were best. And Hinata would be able to see the chakra strings between Kankuro and his puppet, so that would be incredibly useful.

Then she came up to the main event.

"Ino, under no circumstances are you to Mind-Body Switch with Gaara. Ever. Naruto is our best shot at combating Gaara. Your clones and your summoning jutsu are the biggest advantages we have against him." And Kyuubi, she added silently, looking him in the eye. "If we run into other enemies, Chouji and I will be the ones to drop back. Remember the mission objectives and regroup as necessary."

"Any questions?"

Shikamaru had questions, and Shikako made sure to think them all through; because even though he didn't have all the information, Shika was still much, much smarter than she was.

Then Pakkun broke in with the news that they were being tailed by nine enemy nin.

* * *

It sounded _familiar_... Shikako let the tenuous memory-thread unravel on its own as she planned.

 _They had almost killed Shika,_ Before. She recalled suddenly.

Would have if Asuma-sensei hadn't turned up at the opportune moment.

Silently, and with deadly focus, Shikako reached out with her senses...

There! Closing in fast.

"I got this." She said, "Keep going - I'll catch up" there was a palpable disbelief in the air, but no one seemed willing to contradict their mission leader.

As she hung under the branch, applying a seal that would almost certainly take lives, Shikako reflected in the _utter_ _lack_ of guilt sure felt.

They would have tried to kill Shikamaru.

They could not be allowed to make the attempt.

With the seal as destructive as she could possibly make it, Shikako ran back to the others as fast she could. She let out a breath when she passed the blast radius, but the seal detonated just before she got back to the group.

It was beyond her greatest expectations; the shockwave knocked her forward several feet. The others were visibility nervous when she caught up with them.

"Hoooly shit," Naruto breathed. "Just how many explosive tags did you use?"

"None." Shikako said and wiggled her fingers playfully at him, the grin on her face felt a little _too_ _tight,_ a little _too wild._ They probably needed some levity in this situation - but Shikako was much too afraid to supply it herself.

There was a faint whisper of chakra on the edge of the Nara's perception.

Between Pakkun and Hinata they established that no one would be following from that direction.

'That is...' Shikako swallowed. 'The best outcome...' She still didn't feel guilty - _not as such._ She just wished that it hadn't been necessary. Wished they hadn't forced her hand - because being a threat to one of her marks - to her twin? She just couldn't let that lie.

"Right," 'This is an acceptable outcome.' She told herself, it's just that, she hasn't expected it to get them all... With Team 7 luck they should have been ANBU level or something.

From the distance they could hear explosions, and tripwire traps slowed their way.

They were getting closer.

The fear was building - every step that took them father away from Orochimaru, took them closer to an insane Jinchuuriki.

Rock - Hard Place, and no good options in between.

"Maa maa, you're not worrying about Moonbeam are you?" Naruto said, catching her carefully concealed unease. "That's just him showing off! We gotta get up there quick, he'll never shut up if he beats them _all_ before we get there! Dattebayo!'

"Maybe that's what I'm worried about," she returned with a stained attempt at playfulness. "We'd never live it down."

Then Pakkun informed them that Sasuke and one of the Sand Nin had stopped moving forwards, and started fighting.

Felt like Temari.

We've got this' she told herself firmly. 'This'll work. It has to.'

When they move forwards, without the Temari assault team but with Sasuke; Shikako feels nervous. Everything in her screams to keep her marks where she can protect them.

 _She knows that she can't keep them safe._ Not really. Not against Gaara, or Orochimaru; but some distant part of her insists anyway.

It's even worse to leave Shika, but she had to believe that they'd be okay - because this is the greatest possible chance of her marks survival she presses the mission. That too.

As they ran towards the ambling chakra signature of the injured future Kazekage, Shikako pressed a Seal through the back of the Uchiha's shirt as she handed over a solider pill and more backup weaponry.

"You'd have got this in time for the fight, if you hadn't been so late. I guess after a month Kakashi-sensei's lateness just rubs off on you, I wonder if you'll ever recover?" she admonished playfully, faux sadness in her voice. Sasuke just looks at the Lightning seal inscribed Fuma Shuriken and smirked broadly back at her. And it is a thing of elegant brutality - with the four interconnecting circuits of lightning seals painted on its four folding blades. "Take care, ne? Friendly fire is a thing - especially if you're going to use that."

The 'Recall Seal' (as she had termed it in the interim) wasn't perfect, not by a long shot; but this most current design did move small forest animals most of the way to the 'Anchor Seal' without hurting them. It was more like a sealed version of the Shunshin, or maybe the Kawarimi, technique, than a true summons - which would probably have required the use of _reality bending_ elements, so Shikako was glad about that. There had been a very interesting equation about offsetting the extra cost of pulling a person at such a frequency that they simply _passed through_ the intervening matter without interacting with it (utilising the space between atoms, which Shikako had never believed possible before). It made Shikako want to cry with the desire to speak to the genius so had created this - she rather suspected, though, that the man was well beyond her reach.

Also, the tests _before_ she'd added the stabilisation mechanism (which allowed the seal to dump the intact 'cargo' early if there wasn't enough chakra to make the full journey) had been... messy. And traumatising.

She'd only got a chance to test it on herself once - finding time away from prying eyes was ridiculously hard these days. The seal was outrageously inefficient in its current form. As soon as ink flowered on the back of Sasuke's shirt, it began drawing energy from Shikako; at a constant low level (less than the cost of chakra enhancement, but it could be significant in the long run) stream that connected to the anchor point in Shikako's bedroom. She theorised that the Chūnin scroll was only _able to be active_ for one week, due to this power linkage/drainage problem. The 'Heaven and Earth Scroll' part of the seal was clearly the simpler half of the equation in any case. So she had mostly had to reverse engineer the damn thing using only a fragment of the original design.

It was also stubbornly single use, but that wasn't so much of an issue in this scenario.

Shikako hoped, when they came upon the redhead, that they could simply observe his progress until he was out of Fire Country entirely - which was obviously impossible.

She wished it even more when Gaara began screaming for Sasuke to fight him.

He sounded deranged, and his chakra _wild_ with **hatred.**

Shikako bit her tongue until it bled, and steeled her resolve.

Her precious people would survive this. She would make sure of it.

* * *

Notes:

Review problem has gone away, so now I can actually read and respond to them. Please give whatever your thoughts are, and I will reply one way or another. I love hearing what people think, so please share your thoughts and ideas if you want to.

Hearthstone is a thing in World of Warcraft that will bring you back to your favourite tavern no matter where in the world you are, and the DHD (Dial Home Device) is something from Stargate that is literally a keypad that opens a wormhole portal between different planets/galaxies.

I had a hard time with the seal - I've been struggling trying to think about how it's _not_ basically the Hiraishin, and wondering why they would use something like that in their Chunin exams. Honestly, if they can summon 'on call' Shinobi from a distance (even just a few kilometres) then they should never have any problems with ambushes, or being overrun in a war zone... Well... whatever...

I've decided that it is an inefficient 'stepping stone' for Minato as he worked out how to make the Flying Thunder God, so there.

Snippet From donahermurphy's Review:

I headcanon that Shikaku, going out for drinks with Inoichi, tries to talk through why Shikako is Acting Like This. She might be upset about not being able to do her usual activities, but usually Shikako is at least reasonable about things. It's like she's trying to make him angry, when all they want to do is help her!

Inoichi blinks. "You might not want to rule that out," he says.

Shikaku looks up from his drink. "You think she might be doing it on purpose?" he asks, baffled.

Inoichi shrugs. "Not necessarily consciously. But it's not just a matter of how she's dealing with the diagnosis- it's also how she's dealing with her parents dealing with the news. When children are trying to prompt their parents to react to something, or shift their parent's attention, anger is often the tool that comes easiest to hand. It's not working as well on your wife, I think- she's used to Shikamaru's antics aggravating her. But it's possible that Shikako prefers making you angry to seeing you sad, or having to think about the repercussions herself."

Shikaku sighs into his cup. "She's doing it with good news, too. The latest test- well, that why I'm out here. The latest test on her condition said it's not nearly as bad as we thought. She'll have to make some life adjustments, to be sure, but we caught it early enough that it's extremely unlikely to be..." He trailed off.

"That's good news," Inoichi says encouragingly.

"As long as she doesn't push herself too hard, and-" Shikaku drinks from the sake cup. "I just don't want it to get worse. And of course she tried to leverage the news into letting her off and do whatever she wants with her chakra coils, and probably toss her improved odds down the drain-" he cut himself off. "It's not fair of me- she's twelve, she thinks she's immortal, and she's unbelievably upset that she won't be able to do the things all her friends would be doing. And her new hobby is arguing with me."

"Sometimes that's a Dad's job," Inoichi says. "You've heard some of the stuff Ino's gotten up to, over the years."

"Point," Shikaku snorts. "You should hear her opinion of Hyuuga Hiashi, though. I'm thinking I'll probably never be able to repay him, and she's acting like he went and plucked her out of the Chunnin exams all on his lonesome, for kicks."

"A new target for her ire," Inoichi commented.

"Getting angry at me or Hyuuga-san is probably healthier for her than trying to outstubborn Chakra Instability by pretending it doesn't exist," Shikaku adds. His tone wry, if not happy- and that was an improvement.


	14. Chapter 14 Chūnin Exams Part 12 Invasion

Chapter 14 Chūnin Exams Part 12 Invasion

* * *

"Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head." Euripides

* * *

Fighting with Gaara was like nothing else Shikako had ever experienced.

His madness _bloodlust_ hung heavy in the air, so that every breath burned.

The sheer scope of violence and demonic chakra… the gleeful way each was deployed...

it was almost a worse experience than fighting Orochimaru.

Ironically, they were much better placed to fight a genuine battle with the Ichibi Jinchuuriki than the Snake Sannin.

It was just so... _out of control._

With Orochimaru, everything had been precise, methodical. Not a single blow had been struck by Team 7 in the forest of death - not really. All her tricks and traps and clever strategies had amounted to nothing more than a minor annoyance. It was galling to admit it, but their lives were not endangered in that 'fight'. Their continued existence was required for the traitor's plans, so they continued _on his sufferance_. Though of course 'existing' was not exactly a high bar, not when Genjutsu and Cursed Seals could break minds and devour souls.

Here and now was so different.

A different type of danger. A new tenor of fear.

Malice, and rage, and pain.

Every wild flail of sand meant to maim, Gaara screamed for their blood; wanted to take their lives. Really and truly wanted nothing more than the destruction of his enemies.

To validate his existence with slaughter.

Shikako _understood_ now, the haunted way people talked about the night the Nine Tailed Fox attacked. The Bijuu they faced, the weakest of them all, seemed unceasing. Unstoppable. Every attempt to stop him only made him **angrier**.

It was like trying to wear down a mountain using a _toothpick_.

Shikako gave it _almost_ everything she had, used every one of the 30 lightning Senbon in her possession - cursing that she didn't have more. The first thing she was going to do if she survived this was develop a _Storage Seal for seals_ , perhaps a Parent-Child derivative, so she could walk around with as many as she needed.

Naruto and Sasuke were fighting all out, but only because they didn't realise that an even worse battle might be waiting for them. Naruto had spammed Kage Bunshin so much that Shikako couldn't even begin to calculate how many times the blond had experienced death so far. Sasuke was darting to and fro, not quite at his previous speeds, fast enough to get around without being at risk from the lashing malformed sand limbs.

It was just a blur. A blur of motion and violence and explosions.

Shikako's heightened chakra sensitivity had never been such a double edged sword. The demon chakra infused sand projections were like strobe lights; making everything else in her perception seem shadowy and insignificant.

Good for tracking sand, bad for tracking allies.

 _And other enemies._

One small section of her attention was dedicated to searching for that subdued signature, ready to pull Sasuke to safety at a moment's notice.

For a short time, there was the cruel illusion of things going well. Between Naruto's endless physical assault, Shikako's (somewhat more limited) lightning and explosive seals, and Sasuke's Chidori; they seemed to have the Jinchuuriki caught.

Of course, that's not quite how it turned out.

Apparently, of you annoy Gaara enough; he lets mother come out to deal with you.

Blinded with rage-filled pain and screaming with incoherent bloodlust, Gaara began the full-fledged transformation.

The Biiju are forces of nature; and the Ichibi held dominion over the sands - over the earth and wind.

She could feel it, the call of its/his power as it rang through the earth; stripping away moisture until it was barren and hard. Shukaku then drew the newly created sand over and around himself like a demented blanket, forming a purple tainted chakra infused shell around the weak flesh and blood body that contained him.

It was pretty obvious at this point that the situation was falling out of their favour.

So obviously that's when 'backup' appeared.

* * *

Kiba and Akamaru pinwheeled in from overhead - too fast to stop, they drilled into the accumulating purple-beige mass.

From her left, Shikako heard Sasuke curse, and lower the Lightning Fuma Shuriken.

Shikako hastily flashed the signs for 'allies', ''extraction' and 'deploy finisher', knowing that he'd get the jist of her plan.

With a single hand seal Shikako replaced with the larger of the chakra signatures now immobile in the sand, and shot back out through the rapidly closing hole with a Shunshin. Akamaru was still and blood-matted in her arms as she made her way back to a shell-shocked Kiba.

He whimpered at the shift in weight distribution as she handed him over, and Shikako chose to take that as a positive sign.

Behind her the earth rending sound of a hundred lightning bolts rang out, followed by an inhuman roar.

"Do not engage directly!" She called out to the newcomers with a chakra enhanced voice. "Long ranged attacks only!"

Shikako was already in motion again, surveying.

Shukaku was reforming, but he was just small enough now; and Shikako breathed a prayer as she loosed the 4 very special kunai from the pouch on the small of her back.

That was where she had kept Sasuke's present, and the two other long-shots/options of last resort.

Two decorated blades flew from each hand in heavily practised motions, and landed in a perfect 3 meter by 3 meter box around the gathering sand.

Shikako twisted her fingers and shouted the name of her technique.

"Sealing Style Gravity: Unequal Equivalence!"

The seal unwrapped itself from the handles of the blades and snapped into place with a flare of power.

The thing about being a ninja, is that everything is a weapon; if only you come at it with the right frame of mind. The inactive seals on her arms increased the effects of gravity on her person tenfold, which was good for increasing bone and muscle density, stamina and speed. The seal array that trapped Gaara/Shukaku however, that magnified the gravitational pull of the planet on those 9 square meters by 500 times.

Shikako examined her handiwork warily. After a few disastrous tests she had managed to keep the effects of the seal fully contained within the boundaries of the seal markers, but it wasn't exactly what Shikako would call 'safe', or even stable for that matter...

It looked okay so far…?

Shukaku screamed from within the seal, the sound he made was even more distorted than the sight of him. Because gravity affects the behaviour of air particles much more than it does light.

There was a rush of air as nature struggled to keep equilibrium despite Shikako's interference.

Looking at it reminded her uncomfortably of the fact that gravity was one of the fundamental forces of the universe, however weak, and that messing with it too much _might_ damage the fabric of space-time.

Half way through the design process Shikako had remembered that Newtonian gravity was considered a force, and that Einsteinian gravity was simply the effect of space-time curving... or something... and then she wanted to cry when Before memories of quantum gravity and attempts to find the unified theory of everything restructured themselves into more coherent thoughts. Ironically this had the effect of making both quantum theory and the theory of special relativity even more incomprehensible than she'd found them in her last life.

Once, a LOOOONG time ago, Shikako had been a solid B Grade physics student. Only now did she realise _how much_ she had failed to understand.

'If you think you understand quantum theory, then you don't understand quantum theory' she recalled, and tried not to feel personally slighted.

In the end Shikako'd had to pretend that no advances had occurred in the field of physics once the 17th century in order to get any work done. Which was both embarrassing and terrifying. Obviously she missed hard science much less than she had previously romanticised.

It seemed to be holding for the time being, in any case. She could feel that Shukaku was expending massive amounts of chakra to combat the seal. Straining to Keep tonnes of dry earth from crushing his current meatsuit, while also healing and reinforcing it.

A flurry of weapons emanated from the trees to her left, as soon as they passed the ink marked barrier they plummeted to the ground - momentum insufficient to keep them in motion in the new environment.

"Aim from directly above," Shikako informed Tenten, moving to do just that herself. "The high gravity area will give projectiles a greater impact of they are angled downwards."

They only got a few rounds of fire in before the Bijuu's chakra overwhelmed the seal. With a fluttering visual distortion, and a screaming roar of sound, the enclosed space shattered.

There was a mass retreat as the One Tailed Beast expanded. Until he was as tall as the trees, twice the height of the tallest tree...

Three times as tall...

Still growing...

... still...

... ... growth slowing...

Shikako couldn't bring herself to feel relieved when it stopped gathering mass - it was easily five times taller than the forest it was _decimating_.

It made the Hokage monument seem tastefully diminutive in comparison.

Shikako made her way over to where two-thirds of the sand siblings were moved by Chouji and Shino, and flared her chakra in summons.

She didn't want to shout and draw Shukaku's attention, not when he was throwing around Wind Jutsu **natural disasters** like it was easy as breathing.

As they assembled, Shikako examined them all carefully. Naruto and Sasuke were battered and a little chakra depleted – acceptable. Chouji and Hinata and Tenten all looked and felt mostly unscathed – good. Akamaru and Kiba were upright and independently mobile – _so much_ _better_ than expected. Shika, Shino and Ino were all low on chakra and looking fairly beaten down, only to be deployed again in a situation of dire need – not good.

Temari's obvious terror was a bit of a downer on team morale; so it's just as well some decent banter arose from it.

"Naruto, how big is the biggest toad you can Summon?" Shikako asked with a deliberately light voice.

Naruto, who had been looking between the Angry Sand Mountain, his comrades and the village, jumped at the question.

"Big as that thing at least." He promised after a second's thought, face hardening with resolve.

"Good. Everyone, I need you to observe the fight - and step in with the backup plan if things go south. Chouji, you're plan B. With your multi-size technique you are the next best placed to fight here. Sasuke will be backing you up from close range with lighting Jutsu and Chidori. Are you comfortable with possibly being used as a platform for ranged weapons attacks?"

Chouji swallowed, but nodded firmly. Grim and determined.

Hopefully it wouldn't be necessary, but not having at least one backup plan would be stupid beyond belief.

Then came the hard part.

"Shika, you're in charge of coordinating plan B. Do not deploy unless plan A has clearly failed. I'll be providing air support for Naruto."

Shika started at that, turning to look at his twin with wide eyes. She could see the wheels turning behind them, and knew she had to move this along _now._

"Air support? What do you mean air -"

Shikako turned to Naruto as if her brother hadn't spoken.

'Sorry Shika, there isn't time.'

"After you Naruto." She prompts, and though he's as unsure about what 'air support' means as Shika, he doesn't argue.

As they shoot off to find a clearing big enough to fit Gamabunta, Shikako turns slightly, and signs behind her 'hold formation' and 'primary mission objectives' and hopes that someone remembers to guard Sasuke.

It was a tough call, to go with Naruto and leave Sasuke; but she couldn't leave Naruto to face Gaara when she might be able to help. Couldn't leave one teammate to face _certain_ danger alone. It wasn't a sure thing that Orochimaru would come. Shikako was probably catastrophizing.

Shikako was hopefully catastrophizing.

When they reached a suitable location, Shikako left Naruto to his own devices; informing him that she would be making an initial assessment.

Closing her eyes, Shikako surveyed herself. Around half chakra reserves, with a steady drain from the Recall Seal.

'Best hope this goes quickly,' she thought to herself bleakly, recalling her ban on chakra pills and transfusions with some remorse. 'And that nothing especially interesting happens after - _I'm counting on you to do your part old man!'_

As she made the necessary hand seals, Shikako regretted that she hadn't had time to come up with a seal like the one Orochimaru had on his arm. Something that would alleviate the cost of Summoning, and sustaining a Summon would have been a major boon.

Unfortunately, any additional seals impacting the contract would have to be compatible with the first sealing style of the Elder Deer. The ancient langue from the Days of Yore was completely incomprehensible to Shikako, and the project had been put on the back burner in favour of the 'Fuuinjutsu, Earth and Gravity Style: Rail Gun'.

A technique she didn't ever actually want to use so close to a population centre.

The Doe who answered her call was storm-grey, and tall enough that the deceptively delicate curve of her spine was at Shikako's eye level.

Small for a deer Battle Summons, Ikoma was inexperienced by the standards of the Kankoku Water Tribe, having gone into battle for the first time just Nine years ago. As a young adult she lacked big flashy Jutsu, and her strength and 'presence' (what they called the 'not-quite chakra' they used) were both low even compared to her contemporaries.

In short, Ikoma was perfect.

Someone who was actually interested in battling next to the Yearling Fawn, 'Daughter of the Forest' (somehow the nickname had stuck even before she started making the rounds in the Deer territories. She was never going to escape it now!), and was actually feasibly summonable with Shikako's current chakra reserves.

Ikoma's tusks glinted in the light as she nodded in greeting. Shikako suspected that the only reason she had managed to summon the Musk Deer specifically was because she'd asked beforehand, and the doe had _chosen_ to answer first. Her attempts to summon anyone but Heijomaru were shameful at best.

The Wind Natured deer was exceptionally agile, and has an Air Manipulation Trick that allows her to stay airborne for much longer than the natural order usually permits.

As they took off, Shikako heard Naruto begin his Summoning with an exclamation that he was going to defeat Gaara and become Hokage, followed by a 'dattebayo', for good measure.

It was oddly comforting.

* * *

All comfort fell away when she left the canopy and was exposed in the open air to the One Tailed Beast.

It was carving a path out of the forest towards the village, spitting out hurricanes and sandstorms as it went.

Behind them Gamabunta was pulled into the world, and seemed to be _very unimpressed_ about that fact. Naruto had his charisma-magic, he'd work it out. They hadn't had time to make plans like Shikako and Ikoma had, so some confusion was inevitable.

'Dear riding was never a thing Beofre for good reason,' Shikako thought with a grimace. They'd gotten a few days practice done in the Deer Realm, but all she'd managed so far was not falling off... in the first five minutes... seven times out of ten.

Deer _looked_ graceful, but they certainly **didn't** **feel it** from a passenger perspective.

The great bounding leaps were fine, long and arching across the skyline. The real problem was on the ground. It was like trying to ride the fastest, bounciest, boniest, least huggable rabbit-on-speed that could possibly be imagined.

Shikako also suffered from bouts of motion sickness, and hadn't yet learned how to make sense of the jerky, blurred visuals that came with dear travel.

Sembei-oba didn't know what her problem was; privately Shikako suspected that the comfort and convince of cars had ruined her forever.

Ikoma felt like a machine under her, stone hard and impossibly strong. Her shoulder blades looked like metal plates shifting under the skin, and the expanding and contracting of her steel chords muscles were **unceasing**.

Every contact with the ground, or branches, almost unseated Shikako - not that she even had a seat to begin with. It seemed very demeaning of Ikoma to ask for a saddle, but Shikako probably could use one (read: really needed one).

Still though, despite all the difficulty; the perspective and freedom of movement was well with it; once she got the over the feeling of **'ohmygosh gonna die** ' that came with riding the Ikoma Roller Coaster.

Fortunately, on their second aerial pass over Shikako spotted Gaara half-submerged in the beasts head like the world's most weird pimple. Unfortunately, that was also the moment Shukaku spotted them; and then tried to deal with them in the manor of squashing a fly. Striking out wildly with his broad arms, and releasing buffeting gusts of wind from his gaping mouth at them.

Shikako found that deer flight was actually a good time to use the Touch Blast; with Ikoma in charge of evasion Shikako had the time to focus on setting the charges and firing then off as soon as possible.

Win?

The trees shuddered as Naruto and the pseudo Mob Boss made their way over. From her position in the sky, it looked oddly reminiscent of grass swaying in the breeze.

This was good. Getting backup; because Shukaku had just about caged the two of them in with sand tendrils.

The grasping sand seemed larger than life in a very real way, blocking out the world in its entirety.

They vivid blue of the sky, and the living greens if the forest were replaced by beige and purple. Even the sound of Shukaku's screams was drowned out by the endless rasp of sand over sand. The chakra sense was the worst; the endless hunger of the demon surrounding her, palpably eager to consume _all_ , contained her pereption to their shrinking prison.

As a last ditch attempt to get free before the sand crushed the life out of them, Shikako fired off a kunai Touch Blast which was exclusively a concussive burst.

It cleared a space, and they leaped for it. Through the ringing in her ears, Shikako could hear Naruto shouting.

"Hey ugly! Why don't you pick on someone your own size? You scared!?" He demanded, and there was _red_ in his voice. A kind of growl in his words that the human voice box couldn't usually accommodate.

Ikoma and Shikako shot through the rapidly closing gap, and Shukaku screamed in outrage.

When they were forced to use the Ichibi's body as a springboard for their escape, the sand attempted to devour Ikoma's hooves, which meant that they weren't quite fast enough to escape the follow up lashes of sand.

There was just too much.

This was just too much.

Shikako couldn't believe she'd _really thought_ she could fight this battle.

During an especially jerky dodge, Shikako was almost thrown off, and immediately after, a tendril passed by Ikoma's flank and slammed into Shikako side painfully; wrapping around her and drawing her in to the main body.

For a crucial couple of seconds, Shikako was stunned from the blow. Blind with panic, the Nara expelled chakra, as if using the Leaping Monkey, but from as many locations in her body as possible.

Shikako then burst free of her ever constricting personal prison, with a new found sympathy for claustrophobes everywhere, only find that she'd fired herself into the belly of the beast.

Well, his chest, but close enough.

And also the air was inundated with Kyuubi Chakra, which is always _such a nice surprise._

She pushed off from the grasping sand once again, expending more of her diminished chakra supply.

Shikako was choking as fell, _trying_ to think of some way to stop her free fall while being strangled by all the malevolent chakra in the air.

But she _couldn't think_ , couldn't _breathe_ , and the tree line loomed ever closer.

Something streaked across her vision, a vibrant crimson that caught even her distant attention.

Then pain.

Ribs fracturing, some far away thought categorised; but Shikako was _present_ again.

Grasping on tightly to whatever it was that broke her fall, Shikako took a breath. And she _held_ it even when it **burned**. Then she opened her eyes and made herself look.

Red.

Ikoma's beautiful grey coat was stained everywhere, even her pretty palest blue underside. Red and brown and green; like she was the ultimate loser in a game of paintball. Where the red player was the uncontested champion.

"You hurt?" Shikako forced out as she pulled herself into a sitting position – there were very few things worse for her ribs than being draped over Ikoma like that.

The Musk Deer said a lot in the next few moments, with a very contrite sounding voice; but all that Shikako rook away from it was that the Doe didn't need healing. Which is good, because Shikako had never tried to heal a Summon Deer before. Something to test in future, away from the battlefield.

"Take us back up." She commanded, using some of her remaining chakra to stick to Ikoma's back. With, optimistically, a quarter of her reserves left, there was little Shikako could actually do. She needed to be there anyway.

There was only a moment's hesitation before they took to the skies again.

Shikoka felt much more stable to in the air now, and if that isn't an indication of how of her day has been then nothing is. The earth shuddered as the Clash of the Titans was fought on its surface. They were equally sized, and their Jutsu seemed a match as well.

A stalemate is not a victory.

Time to tip the balance of power.

There was a swarm of red-tinted Naruto's attacking from all angles, which was a start.

Shikako sent out a flashbang Touch Blast kunai to Shukaku's exposed back first, as a polite notice to the Naruto's of incoming friendly fire. 5 seconds later she aimed the Blast Steal at roughly the same spot. It wasn't quite the explosion she'd used against their pursuers, but then it couldn't be with allies so close by.

Shukaku's sudden Weakness was capitalised on by Naruto and Gamabunta, and the hurled themselves forwards and... turned into the Kyuubi no Kitsune?

There was a moment of cognitive dissonance as her brain struggled to reconcile the suddenly diminished chakra presence of the Kyuubi with his even more sudden physical appearance. Henge, it decided. Probably one of Naruto's weird physical construct ones, if the way it sank tooth and claw onto the struggling sand demon was any indication.

Then Shukaku's chakra cut out, and a tidal wave of disused sand flowed over the landscape. Then the large orange toad vanished on a puff of smoke.

That meant Naruto must be falling.

Shikako screamed, and Ikoma _rocketed_ them from their 'safe distance' to Naruto's plummeting body in seconds.

She plucked from the deluge and pulled him up to sit in front of her, and Ikoma rode the wave all the way to the ground using some chakra manipulation technique, following Gaara's signature.

Both Jinchuuriki were clearly exhausted, but Naruto was doing marginally better. After a firm hug (Shikako didn't cry of at the pressure on her ribs, but only by the smallest of margins) he slid to the ground, and stumbled as he moved forwards. Kept stumbling, weak and exhausted as he was; _but still_ he made a determined path to the beaten Gaara.

As they spoke Shikako dismounted and thanked Ikoma, but informed the doe that she could no longer sustain her presence in this world. At one tenth chakra capacity (and Shikako really needs to find some way to mitigate her pitiable reserves if she wants to keep up with her boys... back to the stone research maybe?) , it was far from inaccurate; but mostly Shikako hoped that if the Deer wasn't there when Shika arrived... Then maybe he'd forget about the summons...?

A girl can hope.

Ikoma bowed and said "it was an honour to do battle at your side, Summoner." and gracefully returned to her own world for healing. Shikako nodded in return, but really she was listening to Naruto and Gaara speak.

The line that really broke her?

"They rescued me from my loneliness."

Naruto was swaying in place, barely able to stay upright; but he still swore to never give in, to _kill_ to defend his friends; if he had to. Shikako darted across the few feet that separated them and inserted herself under his arm.

"We'd do the same for you, y'know? You did good, Naruto. You did good."

He grinned back tiredly, and the arm that she'd pulled around her shoulders tightened fractionally, like a hug.

The others turned up then too. First Sasuke, then Shika, followed by everyone else and the prisoners.

Shikako nearly collapsed with relief at seeing everyone present and unmolested, though the screaming pain of her ribs might have contributed as well.

 _They might just make it,_ she thought, hoped.

Shikako was still prepared for the worst, but looking at the open relief on her comrades faces… felt like they'd won already.

* * *

Notes: So basically, Shikako got herself really worked up, beat up, and is going to be in a fair old amount of trouble... when everything would have gone just fine without her interfering...

Thanks again to my Beta MathisMagic.


	15. Chapter 15 Chūnin Exams Part 13 Invasion

Chapter 15 Chūnin Exams Part 13 Invasion

* * *

As usual, there is some content appropriated directly from Silver Queens DOS. Many thanks to my beta, MathisMagic, and thank you all for reading :)

* * *

"The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own." Aldous Huxley

* * *

The euphoria that came with victory died pretty quickly when Shikako saw Temari's expression.

Earlier, when the older girl thought she was going to die, she'd looked afraid. Now, looking at her brother, still and beaten on the ground, she looked agonised.

The kind of terror that presses into soul and paralyses it.

Kankuro was screaming threats at them, but all Shikako could see was Temari.

Her fear was so familiar... like looking into a mirror.

 _Shikako felt that terror every day_.

The hopelessness that came with knowing you were outclassed, knowing that there was **nothing** you could do to protect the people you love.

When Gaara called over weakly, tiredly, to his siblings that it was over; an edge of desperation crept into her eyes.

Shikamaru followed her gaze, then looked slowly back.

"What are we going to do with them now?" He asked his twin flatly, clearly turning over what he knew in his mind.

They both knew what _should_ happen here.

Defeated in front of them were two highly placed political prisoners and bargaining chips, and one unsheathable weapon.

Being the Kazekage's children, they would know things, never mind their rank. They'd disappear into the bowels of T&I, and were unlikely to see daylight again. There was a slim possibility that they could be ransomed back to their village. Temari was likely groomed, as the eldest child, to be the next Kazekage; Suna might negotiate for her release. Maybe Kankuro's too.

Gaara would never leave.

If the mad Ichibi Jinchuuriki ever made it into custody... he would be held only as long as it took to get a seal Master and new host lined up.

Kiba asked her if they should drag them back to the village with his usual tactlessness, but it was Shino who reminded them all of the standard operating procedure.

Ino was also looking for excuses to let them go, and looked Shikako in the eye directly, trying to silently communicate something _important_. The Nara wondered how much Ino had deduced about the situation, if the Yamanaka had also guessed that they were expecting the attack…

"Taking prisoners might not be a priority." The blond said slowly, and Shikako thought that she must have. The phrasing was too open. 'Not a priority' and 'not viable' are very different things. She understood the system as well as Shikako… but they had never had to apply the idea to a real person before. Ino didn't want to condemn them to that fate.

Neither did Shikako.

Kankurou spoke up again, all false bravery and trembling shoulders, and Shikamaru was ruthless in his answering cutting analysis of the situation.

And he was right. Looking at the situation objectively from Shikamaru's perspective, the best thing they could do for the village was kill Gaara and take the others back for interrogation. If the attack was ongoing… then they couldn't risk bringing their enemy's weapon back to the soft underbelly of their home.

Kankurou fell silent, because he knew it too.

That would be the smart _expected_ play. Either keep them prisoner for intel, or kill them before they can threaten the village again.

But… Shikako just couldn't. Couldn't look at that familiar desperation on Temari face, and bring those fears to life.

Temari wasn't some faceless, nameless enemy; not like Kabuto's teammates, whom Shikako'd had no problem with handing over to Ibiki. She had a name, a personality; she was young and pretty and vivacious.

Shikako couldn't do any of the things her village would demand of her here. It was too cruel…

She wondered if what she was about to do would be considered a dereliction of duty. A wellspring of excuses rose in her mind to justify her actions, but most of them were entirely unusable. How could she say with certainty that she was endearing the Leaf to a future Kazekage? She certainly couldn't mention her knowledge of the assassination of previous Kazekage by Orochimaru's hand, that they'd been tricked, and were acting under false orders.

Shikako was relieved when Chouji directed the question of their fate to the group at large.

She was even more relieved when Temari jumped at the chance to influence their fate. On her knees and exhausted she _begged_. Not for herself, but for her brothers. Even Gaara.

That would be what would save them, Shikako hoped: Konoha lived and breathed teamwork. Loyalty and self-sacrifice were their most precious ideals.

"So you can just attack us again?" Ino asked, played devil's advocate with sharp eyes. 'Give us a reason to spare you', she demanded in the silence between her words.

Temari denied the accusation desperately, cited orders; claimed she never wanted to attack. Not a bad defence, if Konoha shinobi were given orders to invade a foreign nation, they would do so… The issue of using the Chūnin Exams was a troublesome one though… there were treaties drawn up against that. Technically speaking, this invasion was a war crime. Not that any of Shikako's comrades here could be expected to know that small detail. It had come up during Shikako's research on the Exams, but no one else should know about it... Shikako hoped _she_ could pretend to not know about it…

"We'll return to Suna," Temari continued in a rush. "Straight back. We won't - We won't fight anymore."

With pursed lips, Shikako examined the expressions of her companions. Uncertain and conflicted they stared back, asking her to make the right choice – _when they didn't even know what that looked like._

Shikamaru reminded them of the mission parameters, and Kiba scoffed. Shikako thought that he must not fully grasp the consequences of doing anything other than 'just letting them go', or else the famed Inuzuka protectiveness was coming into play. They were a clan known for their ruthlessness.

Temari followed their conversation with wild eyes, feeling that her chance to save her brothers was slipping away, she made her final gamble.

Her eyes darted from one face to the next as she offered things no decent human being should _ever_ accept. Her voice cracked on the 'anything', and people shifted uncomfortably, averting their eyes; Shikako felt Naruto's breath hitch against her side. Her pretty teal eyes flickered around wildly, from Sasuke to Naruto to Shikamaru to Shino to Kiba… unsure who she needed to sway.

No one was interested, and pretty much everyone was horrified by the implications of what she was offering. Tenten looked sickened and pitying all at once. Every kunoichi was briefed on what _might_ happen… but to offer it? To offer herself up in exchange for her teammates? There was no way to gain respect from this group quicker.

When Kankurou protested, Temari shifted back to 'domineering and in control' through her unadulterated terror. She was determined to do _whatever she had to_ protect them.

Shikako saw Kiba grit his teeth from the periphery of her vision.

Then Hinata softly, nervously, with downcast eyes that flickered between Shikako and Temari, asked for mercy for the Kazekage's children.

"I t-think that we should let them go, i-if they promise…"

"I swear," Temari said immediately and a little shakily. "By the desert heat, by the shifting sand, by my mother's grave…" she flinched and glanced at Gaara, almost as though she expected him to react. But he was just staring at her as though he had never seen her before in his life. As if she was something too _alien_ to comprehend. "That we'll do nothing but head straight for Suna."

Shikako examined her comrades again, and no one protested Hinata's suggestion. There was a kind of dull horror to their eyes that hadn't left since Temari's offer.

Team 10 would support releasing them, and Team 7 would follow Shikako's lead. Hinata wanted to grant them clemency, and it seemed that Tenten agreed. Kiba wanted to drag them in, but Shikako was willing to take Shino's earlier words as… a kind of assent.

 _'It's my call,'_ and Shikako already knew what her answer was.

She would explain it away afterwards. They couldn't risk bringing Gaara in when the incursion was still taking place, and were too weakened and inexperienced to hold a Jinchuuriki captive in any case. If things were going poorly, then they would only tie up valuable manpower guarding them. Clearing out active enemies would take precedence over trying to contain dangerous opponents who would only attempt to flee.

Kakashi had ordered her to protect Sasuke, and to stop the Sand team from entering battle. If she tried to take them captive now, then she might inadvertently endanger both of the primary mission objectives.

Better to let them go, Shikako could justify; to preserve the mission.

"The quality of mercy is not strained," She murmured to herself. And, _god_ how she'd hated that paper.

How she missed the _ease_ , and _humanity_ of that life.

Shikako stepped forward and gave them a gift. Gave Temari a gift; because even without all the rest of it, Shikako would have still been swayed by _her_.

"Go," She commanded firmly. "Take your brothers and go… but don't mistake this kindness for weakness. If you return, if you try to attack us again; weakness will not be what you remember about Konohagakure. You won't get mercy twice." Shikako's tone was one of observation, not threat.

Temari stared at her for a moment, _everyone did._

But no one stopped her as she scrambled for Kankurou, and freed him with fumbling fingers.

Or when as they both stumbled towards Gaara.

Or when they made good on their promise to run.

Gaara looked back, from his position supported between his siblings, and gazed from one Konoha shinobi to the other: utterly uncomprehending.

"Was that wise?" Pakkun asked levelly.

"I hope so," Shikako said just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"What was that you were mumbling before?" Shikamaru asked. "About mercy?"

"The quality of mercy is not strained," she quoted. "It drops as the gentle rain from heaven, upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; it blesses he that gives and he that takes…"

Slowly they vanished into the forest, and Shikako briefly considered following them to the border, but dismissed the thought.

Better to find shelter and allies. The worst might still be to come.

* * *

"After that fight," Sasuke said levelly, and Shikako fixed her full attention on him. "Everyone in the area is going to know exactly where we are."

 _Well yeah_ , that whole incident would be pretty hard to miss.

They had to get out of there, Shikako decided. It would be a bad thing if Orochimaru or his allies were looking for Sasuke; which she had to assume they were.

"We should move out… we don't know what kind of forces the enemy has, or how they're staggered. Or what their orders might be." Here Shikako let her eyes flicker between the 'high risk' targets of Hinata and Sasuke, but every heir was at risk as well...

There could be many enemies out there, waiting in the wings for the right time to strike. Shikako couldn't feel any, but she couldn't feel Dad, or Kakashi on occasion, so her heightened perception was much less of a comfort than it had been previously.

She wasn't operating a full capacity in any case.

"We need to get out of this area, discreetly. Everyone suppress your chakra as much as you can, and tread lightly." She should have made _everyone_ do Kakashi-sensei's evasion training. "Then we can find a safe location to use as a base, and possibly start clearing the forest." Here she nodded to Shino, who had brought up standard procedure earlier. "Our evasion skills will not be sufficient to fool Jōnin, so our sensei will find us if they need to, but the overall makeup of the invading force seemed to be Chūnin level; so try to aim for fooling them."

At Shikamaru's suggestion they went to the 'outpost' in the sixth quadrant.

The guard post was a stop along a patrol route around the forest; a small a solo station, usually manned by a single person. It was a good place to find allies and a defensible location.

"Everyone move out." Shikako said, compressing her chakra (what was left of it anyway) into a tiny ball in her chest. "Approach cautiously in case it's been overrun."

Everyone's signatures became _somewhat_ muted, which was probably the best she could hope for.

Sasuke was silent and a ghost as he inserted himself under Naruto's other arm. He'd done a good job with his suppressing, the three of them would be nigh invisible on the move, Shikako was certain.

Team 7 ended up in the middle of a protective formation, with Kiba and Hinata at the front, and Chouji and Shika as the rear guard. It was a much slower trip, as they all tried to minimise their charka expenditure, and keep from leaving a trail behind them. Ino and Hinata were the designated lookouts, Shikako was really feeling the strain of keeping the Recall Seal active now and didn't know how much use she'd be in that department.

The atmosphere of the group was less tense, but only by a small margin; Shikako's unease filtered through all of them.

"Found it," Kiba said, sniffing the air with a satisfied look on his face.

"T-there is a Chūnin approaching," Hinata said softly, tapping her fingers together. Shikako wondered if Team 8 also had team-specific sign language they should learn; or if Hinata really did just have the unfortunate habit of restless fingers. A question for another day. "We should stop."

Shikako agreed, signalling them to stop in formation, and let the Chūnin approach. She decided to keep them in the trees in case he was an enemy, then motioned for a lessening of the suppressing techniques; with the exclusion of Sasuke, since he was a known target.

It would be better for them to be as unthreatening as possible, whatever the situation. As a group of ten nin and two nin dogs, they must be pretty intimidating to approach. It would be stupid now _, after everything,_ to get into a mishap of friendly fire. It would _also_ be stupid to assume right off the bat, that their contact as a Chūnin of Konoha.

He circled them once then landed easily at the front of the formation, which was polite of him. A point in his favour; to willingly stand in front of the 'line breakers' of a defensive formation. He looked a little familiar, perhaps an invigilator during the First Exam, and wore the standard Konoha blues and flack jacket. He was a little battered and had clearly been in a fight or two.

"What's a bunch of Genin doing this far out? You guys should be in the shelters, at least." His eyes were sharp, and dragged over their injuries. He paid special attention to Team 7, and Shikako thought he somehow spotted her broken ribs; if the way he disapprovingly eyed her posture as she held up Naruto, was any indication.

Shikako was just functional enough to formulate a response after a prolonged moment of silence, explaining that they had completed an assigned a mission, and were looking to get updates or new orders.

"I see. Well, I'm Iwashi Tatami, from the outpost if you hadn't guessed. You're all Genin, right?"

They all nodded in confirmation.

Then he asked for the identification code casually, with careful eyes. That he was wary about Infiltrators was another point in his favour, Shikako gave the standard Genin one; then asked for the confirmation code.

It was correct, and her muscles loosened slightly in relief.

"Alright. Let's head to the outpost and I'll fill you in. Anyone really injured?"

"Nah," Kiba answered for her, shrugging. "We got off lucky."

Iwashi turned his eyes to Shikako disbelievingly, eyebrows raised.

She coughed awkwardly, and used the pain to ground herself. "Some bruising on my ribs; potential fractures. Nothing serious."

Thirteen sets of incredulous eyes seemed to find her in that moment.

"Whhhaaa?!" exclaimed Naruto, flinging himself off her shoulder and nearly sending both himself and Sasuke off their branch. Shikako steadied them both, but the movement was **painful** and something of that must have slipped through her expression.

Almost before she knew what was happening, Shikamaru had taken her place under Naruto's arm, and Ino was in front of her already unzipping her jacket. Which, you know, _presumptuous_.

No one Shikako knows has any sense of boundaries, apparently.

After some prodding of her purple-ing ribcage, Ino advised that there was no displacement, and that they could safely move her.

Which is what Shikako said, but strangely no one took her word for it.

Hinata, the traitor, informed them all after a moment of intense focus that Shikako had broken the 7th 8th and 9th ribs on her right side.

Iwashi led them through the trees easily, to a spot where the trees were thickest.

"Welcome to our humble little abode. This is Mozuku, the other Chunin on duty at the moment."

Shikako looked around confused, where was the guard station?

Hinata murmured softly "In the tree," to end their collective confusion.

'That's very clever,' Shikako thought, examining the hollowed out niche in the trunk of the tree. Not big, just enough to store some supplies, provide a little bit of cover maybe – just big enough for a single person to hide in.

"I'll take over the patrol," Mozuku offered. "If you want to get them sorted."

Iwashi nodded in affirmation.

There was a small clearing by the outpost and Sasuke and Shika propped up Naruto at the base of one of the trees there. It was _strongly_ _recommended_ to Shikako that she also find somewhere to sit.

"So what's going on?" Sasuke asked Iwashi, calm and serious once he was seated.

"Well, I'm going to take it that you know about the invasion," he said ironically, then detailed the demise of the combined Sand and Sound forces between the walls and the outer forces.

"Outer forces?" Shikako echoed curiously.

"Yeah, there's a fair amount of us out here. Chūnin, Jōnin… ANBU squads." A smug smirk kicked up the corner of his lips. "They didn't know what hit 'em."

Well… that was good...

"So what should we do now?" Ino asked, looking down at Shikako speculatively.

Iwashi considered this for a moment, and offered the uninjured some patrol work.

Kiba said immediately tried to get in on the action, but he and Akamaru were both visibly injured and smeared in drying blood. Shikako wouldn't have permitted them to go, but her command had been superseded by Iwashi's.

Thankfully, Iwashi was a discerning sort of fellow; and raised an eyebrow at the Inuzuka, before telling him to get medical attention first. Kiba groaned dramatically in response, and flopped down on the ground.

Sasuke stood, brushing off his shorts. "I'll go." Shikako didn't want to let him go, but he looked pretty resolved, and his chakra was still buzzing from the soldier pill.

Chouji volunteered as well, which was a bit of a surprise. Chouji didn't really like fighting. It was probably because he really wasn't as tired as everyone else, which was fair enough.

Iwashi took the two of them away, and Shikako didn't protest only because she didn't need proximity to either halves of the seal to activate it. She fixed on his signature determinedly, and hoped they didn't run into any trouble.

* * *

Shikako was about to stand when Ino loomed threateningly over her.

"I was just going to see Kiba." Shikako defended weakly.

"I'm sure Hinata can tend to her teammate, right Hinata?" Ino said sweetly, her pupilless eyes looked eerie suddenly.

Shika was by her side, and also had some crazy eyes going on; so Shikako decided to unseal her medical equipment and food supplies for communal use, and sit quietly for a little while.

On a completed unrelated note, obviously.

"O-of course," Hinata stammered, and made her way over to Kiba.

Tenten stretched out, and then sat to go over her sealed inventory.

Shino was meditating, or something, in the shade.

Maybe Shikako should try that sometime. She had heard that meditation was a good way to recoup chakra without sleeping. She looked enviously at Naruto, who was napping under the tree where Sasuke and Shikamaru had left him.

Shikako couldn't afford to sleep right now, but she needed to boost her reserves if she wanted to keep the Recall Seal active.

Shikako picked up a bento, and started shovelling food into her mouth; in part it was a vain attempt to forestall the _TALK_ that was clearly incoming from Ino and Shika.

"So," Shikamaru began with a terror inducing even voice "you never did mention how you got a Summons Contract…" 'or that you had one,' he very obviously didn't say.

Right into the classified stuff already. _What fun._

"Ah, well. It was just before everything kicked off, I guess I forgot to mention it…" she said lamely.

"Did you go to Sembei-oba's to get it?" and there was an undertone of anger in his words now.

"No! I promise I had it before the diagnosis" Shikako said quickly, trying to head off the worst of her brother's ire, while keeping her attention focused on Sasuke. He was getting quite a distance away now.

"But you did summon the Deer at Sembei's house didn't you?" He demanded, "Against medical orders."

"What? No I-" Shikako give up the lie almost immediately in the face of his steadily darkening expression. Which was fair enough, it would be pretty obvious that she'd had extended contact with them from the battle. Pretending otherwise would be stupid. "I summoned myself to the Deer Lands, 'Seion Forest'. It's not really chakra intensive at all." She tried to placate the two livid clan heirs.

" _Not really chakra intensive at all?_ " Ino echoed incredulously "Can you _even_ _hear_ yourself? And don't think we're buying that you already had a contract for a second! How did you get it, huh?!" She demanded.

"I'm sorry Ino, I really just _can't_ tell you." Shikako closed her eyes, and wished she had the brainpower to spare on coming up with a convincing lie. There were Medical Jutsu that could be used to simulate the effects of sleep on the brain, clearing out the accumulated toxins that cloud thoughts. Shikako was going to learn those next, she decided as she struggled to keep Sasuke in her field of perception whilst having this _lovely_ discussion.

"What exactly does that mean?" Shika hissed, and Shikako could see the whirring behind his eyes.

Shikako sighed, and closed her eyes.

"Exactly what you think it does."

Ino looked troubled, and Shikamaru clenched his fists.

"Does dad know about it?" He asked finally.

"Yes." That was a safe one to answer, but Shikako would bet anything the rest of this conversation was not going to be as smooth.

"Can you tell me when you got it?"

"Last month." She answered vaguely.

"Before or after the Frist Exam?"

'Damn it Shika,' she cursed mentally, 'leave it be.'

"After. Shika you have to let this go."

He pulled a face.

"Who was there?"

"That's classified."

"But you were with your teammates?" There was some flicker of understanding developing in his eyes.

He read the 'yes' in her countenance.

"You didn't get the Deer Contract from Sembei-oba?"

"No, I already told you!" She began angrily, then bit her tongue.

"So you can summon people to the Summon Realm? Don't suppose you need a contract for that, do you?" it was mostly a rhetorical question Shikako knew, even if he had _no way_ _of knowing_ about the Reverse Summon affect.

Her brother's ability to draw correct conclusions from minimal information was incredible; but right now it was just _dangerous_.

"You have to drop this now! It's classified!" She hissed, looking between the assorted ninja in the clearing.

"After the Forest of Death, there was something wrong with both your teammates." Shikamaru recalled, and _how did he know that?_

"Shika, Stop!"

There was no stopping him now, with his fingertips set together and _that_ look on his face.

"Ino mentioned that Naruto's chakra felt a little off, and it's pretty hard to miss the black marks in Sasuke's neck. And you… had your check-up just after, didn't you? Then Kakashi-sensei took Sasuke away pretty quick after his match… and when he came back… he looked scruffier than normal, didn't he?"

That was a month ago! How was he remembering this so clearly?

"It all comes down to the seals, doesn't it? Naruto's seal wa-" Shikako pushed forwards, and slapped her hands over her twin's mouth.

"Not another word Shika, there are _other people here_ and that is an _S rank secret_. If you tell anyone, it's a capital offence." She whispered harshly into his ear.

Nose to nose the Nara twins stared each other down.

Ino looked between the two of them nervously.

Shika pulled her hands away from his face and continued softly enough that only Shikako would hear.

"There aren't too many people strong enough to pose a serious threat to your sensei. When you add sealing skills to that list, and the number drops even more. When you factor in an obsession with bloodlines, well, only one name springs to mind."

If Shikako though he was angry before, she was wrong. _This_ was real anger.

"I did wonder why Jiraiya came to visit; does he feel guilty about not putting that mad dog down sooner? You can tell him he won't get another chance."

 _'No. Oh god no. This is. No. insane. He can't really think-'_

"Shika, no. You can't possibly think-" Verbalising her active thought-stream has been too dangerous for years now, but right now she _can't help it slipping through._

 _'No. no no no no nononononono noooooo!'_

Shikako doesn't know what to say, can't think if the right words to stop this, but she **has to.** She has to make this stop, because Shikamaru is a _Genin_ and Orochimaru is a **Kage** and Shikako can _see_ the plans forming _now._

 _Oh god please._

"Yes. I can. This is why you're been so afraid. Why you've been pushing yourself _so hard_ even though it's _killing you_. Actually, really _killing you._ " He looked like Dad now, all dark stone and certainty.

This wasn't like Sasuke's ambition to kill Itachi. Because Itachi _wouldn't ever kill Sasuke_. Orochimaru though... the things he'd do…

It didn't bear thinking about.

He was much less powerful than the Uchiha prodigy, but vastly more dangerous to the people Shikako cares about in real terms.

"Don't," she begged, "Please, please don't." There was _simply no way_ Shika could walk away from that confrontation.

"Tch. Not immediately, obviously. This is the long game. Troublesome." And this was worse.

A moment ago Shika was a fount of loosely directed bubbling range. Now. Now he was all millpond stillness, with a firestorm under the surface.

He was planning.

"Years, Shika. That's how long the long game is. Decades maybe, of endless hard work. Orochimaru is a Kage level ninja!" Shikako tried frantically to dissuade him.

He looked back into her panicked face blandly.

"I don't know what I'd do if you put yourself in Orochimaru's sights because of me." She said in a way that made perfectly clear everything she wasn't saying.

Shika huffed, mouth twitching unhappily as plans were reworked and dismissed in his mind. Shikako found this to be Not-Comforting.

"You're doing this to protect Sasuke from him though, aren't you?" Her brother demanded, and all Shikako can think is that she'd lost track of Sasuke '– _HOW COULD SHE LET THAT HAPPEN?'_

With a curse, and a deep breath she pushed back from her position against Shika, and closed her eyes. He's too far to feel normally, but the Seal gives her an approximate location. Once she got a fix on his position, Shikako strained her senses painfully. Chakra sense is passive, just _there_ like light or sound; but like sight and hearing, there are ways to enhance the natural range, to _focus_. Crushing her own depleted chakra down, Shikako focused on the next largest source of her own chakra.

The way that chakra feels, separated from her, but still aiding her ability to observe what's happening nearby to it… _that is_ **not** _how her brain is wired to perceive information_ , but if Shikako knows anything by now, it's how to out-stubborn the natural boundaries of her body. She is lost to her surroundings in those minutes, while she made sure that Sasuke was safe.

He was fine: chakra normalising after the effects of the chakra pill, with only Chouji and Iwashi for company.

Shikako let of a breath, and the stranglehold she had on her own chakra; even as she held on tighter to Sasuke's signature traversing the woods.

When she opened her eyes again, her brother was staring her dead in the eye from far too close; his eyes were sharp and glinting as obsidian spheres.

That was _not a happy expression_ her brother was wearing.

"How," He asked; careful and deliberate "are you tracking Sasuke?"

Honesty looked to be the better part of valour here.

"Seals" She said simply. Evasively.

Shikamaru frowned, squinting at her.

"Ino" He intoned, which wasn't quite the non-sequitur Shikako initially though; since the Kunoichi in question was in fact _still there._

Very clearly observing the exchange.

 _'Worrying.'_

Shikako really needed to focus if she wanted to get out of this mess. Which was not usually the problem it was now.

"Something is draining her chakra, but it is slower than the rate of renewal." Ino informed her teammate seriously "I can't find any obvious indicators of instability, but I couldn't before either…" She added somberly, totally ignoring Shikako, like she hadn't just breached some serious personal boundaries.

Shika even _sounded_ like dad when he _ordered_ her to lie down.

"Excuse me?" She asked politely, but still ready to kick off because she is _so done_ with this shit. There were clearly things going on here that she wasn't aware of.

"Unless you want to talk about the active seal you have on your teammate?" He asked dryly.

Principally, Shikako wouldn't mind talking about the Recall Seal with her brother; but she imagined that the conversation would go sharply down hill when the human testing phase of development came up. She didn't think that he would be wholly comforted by the fact that she'd made sure she wasn't going to be ripped apart first… through trial and error with small woodland creatures… earlier that same day…

People just wouldn't understand the _urgency_ of the situation, and that was _hardly_ Shikako's fault.

Graciously, the members of Team 10 moved just far enough out of her space to let Shikako lie down, but they still boxed her in: protective and oppressive.

Then Shikamaru performed the very familiar seal sequence for the Reinforcement Iryō Ninjutsu, which was so surreal that Shikako nearly lost track of Sasuke's position.

"What..?" She asked them faintly, and the sensation of Shika's chakra was comforting, feeling as natural in her system as her own. The Yamanaka and Nara heirs scoff in almost perfect tandem.

"Do you really think that any one of our friends who has the capacity to learn that Jutsu – _hasn't learned it_? It's literally the only thing that can _save your life_ if your chakra system starts to degrade! _If that's what you think_ , then you seriously underestimate how much we care about you."

There was something in the deliberate evenness of the last sentence that triggered some alarm in Shikako's brain, but she didn't know _quite_ what it was.

Ino was too perceptive by half, and who knew what hare-brained theories she'd already come up with?

Examining her outward reactions from a place of ignorance for a moment, Shikako could see that some of her recent actions _may_ seem _somewhat questionable_.

'Why does this conversation have to take place _now_? Or ever?'

"I know you care about me." She said in return, a little grumpily. "I care about you all as well, _that's why_ I try so hard." Shikako explained, trying to reassure them while justifying and normalising her behaviour at the same time.

Ino and Shika looked… not reassured. She could tell that much at least.

Shikako didn't have enough of her mental faculties available to fully parse what was happening here, between Ino and Shikamaru; not with so much of her attention focused on Sasuke and his surroundings well over a mile away.

They shared a look, and seemed suddenly… grimly resolved?

Why did _people_ have to be so hard? It wasn't fair.

Shikako didn't know what to do, and shamefully she chose to let the situation play out; unwilling to offer more input, too afraid of making this awkward situation worse.

Thankfully, it was around that time that Mozuku came back. Apparently he agreed with Iwashi's idea to take two Genin on patrol with him. Kiba jumped up as soon as the question was asked, and there was a polite conversation between Shino and Tenten on who would go with them.

"Well then…" Shikako noted blankly to the canopy of trees above her, not really sure what to do.

They would be sitting around waiting with nothing to do and no way of knowing what was going on in the village for some time.

In this awkward and stilted atmosphere.

Fun.

Shikako sat up after the third revolution of the Reinforcement Technique was completed, and pushed her twin's hands away, when he insisted; she reminded him that they were still in a potential combat situation. That enemy combatants might come upon them at any moment, and he didn't have the chakra reserves to keep up the Jutsu and still be able to fight.

Then Ino examined and bound her ribs, determining that they weren't an immediate medical emergency; but that she wasn't to fight again unless absolutely necessary since they were in danger of breaking more easily now and causing internal damage.

She tried to focus on Sasuke, but stray thoughts nibbled at the edges of her concentration.

Was everyone okay? How many more enemies were there? Would fighting last much longer?

Shikako ate some more, then leaned against the tree again, with her eyes closed this time. The possibility that she might be sleeping was enough to stop whatever harassment Ino and Shika were no doubt planning.

They waited.

* * *

Shikako tracked Sasuke in a daze now, and felt ridiculously relieved when Iwashi, Chouji and Sasuke came back to check in on them. When Iwashi left again, he took Tenten with him instead of the Akimichi heir, and the completed triumvirate of Team 10 murmured softly amongst themselves.

Mozuku swung by too, at around the time Naruto woke up. They had to convince the blond that he didn't have to go on the patrols. The most convincing argument came from Chouji – apparently northing interesting happened, and while he was away all he could think about was what was happening with his team, given that the area was still insecure.

After that, Naruto came and sat with the four of them. They traded stories and observations quietly, obviously trying not to disturb her 'sleep'.

It was nearly sundown before the ringing bells carried though the forest.

"Guess the fighting's over," Ino said, listening.

"They'll be sending out runners, then," Shikako guessed with a dry voice, opening her eyes for the first time in hours. "Orders for the outpost shinobi."

There was a murmuring though the assembled as the conversations about what might be waiting for them started up; a topic skirted around earlier.

The two patrol groups came back just in time to see the arrival of another Chūnin.

Apparently familiar with Iwashi and Mozuku already, he informed them that the security level was dropped back down to 3. The new Chūnin and Mozuku bantered a little, the camaraderie seemed to ease some tension in the air. Mozuku volunteered Iwashi to take the Genin back to the village, and they were off with a grumble.

Kiba took exception to being called a kid apparently.

As they walked, Shikako found herself positioned safely between Team 10 and her own teammates.

"Hey, Sasuke," Shikako rasped. "You're being pretty quiet over there."

He shrugged and grunted in a fairly typical response, but Shikako suddenly wished she knew what was going on in his head.

Was he worried about another abduction attempt? Relieved everyone had survived? Upset that she and Naruto were the ones to engage Shukaku directly, while he was held in reserve? Annoyed that the Exams were disrupted? Worried about the village?

It wasn't the time to ask.

The Chunin at the check in station dismissed them all, sending the exhausted home and advising that non-essential medical treatment be delayed until tomorrow.

They all signed in, after a brief perusal of the damage report, Shikako decided that the boys would be coming home with her tonight.

Shikamaru shrugged and yawned, but his eyes were still a little too sharp.

Sasuke agreed evenly, but Naruto seemed oddly enthused about the idea of having a sleepover.

If the way Shika groaned quietly was any indication, he had just invited himself to Team 7's very first (non-mission related) sleepover.


	16. Chapter 16 Tsukuyomi Part 1

Chapter 16 Tsukuyomi Part 1

* * *

Thanks to my readers, and reviewers, It always makes me wiggle a bit with joy when I see a review, or look at the visitor stats :) So thank you all for that. Thanks also go out to Silver Queen, the god, and MathisMagic, my Beta. Some of the content had been lifted from DOS in its entirety, so thanks again to Silver Queen, who is fabulous and generous enough to let me get away with that.

Also, some of you may have noticed that I've gone back and edited in quotes to the beginning of the previous chapters; so you can check that out if you want :)

* * *

"Anything cracked will shatter at a touch." Ovid

* * *

The house was empty when they got back, and Shikako dropped the seal finally; it wouldn't do much good if they were attacked now anyway. She felt the structure unravel, releasing her chakra into the air, and she even managed to reintegrate some of it before it dissipated into the environment.

Mum and Dad were both out, leaving the house feeling barren.

Not like home.

Shikako waited on the couch while all her boys set up their 'slumber party'. Shika and Naruto were off, claiming to get futons and stuff sorted.

Shikako smiled in approval, but otherwise pretended not to notice the way Shika darted around the house and perimeter, activating the awaiting traps and defences while Naruto puttered around upstairs.

Sasuke, surprisingly, was on kitchen duty; and was faring well if the pleasant aroma wafting into the room was any indication.

It made sense in a way... Sasuke had lived alone for a long time, and his nutrition was much better than, say, _Naruto's_. It was a simple meal they all sat down to, warm rice and plainly cooked meat, but it was one of the best meals Shikako could remember.

They chatted a little afterwards, but the warmth of the food and the length of the day caught up with them.

The futons were laid out had to head, with hers and Shika's on one side and Naruto's and Sasuke's on the other. Shikako wondered if she should suggest some watch rotation or something, but in the end dismissed the idea.

If there was an unfriendly sly enough to slip past the Nara Clans Head's house protections without triggering alarms... well whoever was on watch wouldn't notice them until too late anyway, as depressing as that fact was.

Vaguely, though sleep haze, Shikako recognised her Mother slipping through the defences and setting them back up behind her.

Mum paused at the door of the living room for several moments, silent, before making her way up the stairs to bed. Dad did the same thing hours and hours later, and when he left a scant two hours after that, he deactivated the house defences.

Half asleep Shikako smiled, it had been too long since she'd felt Dad's comforting presence, however tired and agitated he felt: Dad meant _safety_.

She woke to Naruto and Sasuke bickering, which was _so predictable_ that it made her smile right off the bat. Shika was buried miserably in his covers, a soft mass of pillows and bed clothes over his head as he tried to ignore the two of them.

Slowly, carefully, _subtly_ , Shikako moved until things were aligned _just so_ ; and quick as a striking cobra fired her pillow into their faces. It clipped Naruto across the cheek before slapping full into Sasuke's face.

There was a moment of stunned stillness, and Sasuke was the picture offended dignity; but that only lasted until he had to backflip over a pillow a maniacally laughing Naruto sent at him. He grabbed out of mid-air and lobbed it back with some force, sending Naruto careening back into the couch.

"Pillow fight!" Called the blond, and the Shika-pile attempted to discreetly edge further into the far corner of the room.

They played for several long minutes, shrieking and laughing. Shikako even managed to unearth Shika by stealing his pillow via the use of chakra strings. His pineapple hair stuck out from the blankets comically, which drew the attention of the rest of Team 7. Shikamaru bore Naruto's attention unmoving for a few moments until he recognised that Naruto wasn't someone you could just _ignore_ until they went away.

He burst free like a sleeping dragon awoken, and set about trying to smother the boys while muttering uncomplimentary things about them, Shikako, and the universe at large. Fortunately for all of them, Shika was only as co-ordinated as he usually was this time of morning – which is to say, _not very._

Shikako had to laugh as she dodged their 'attacks', and carefully did not reveal any of the discomfort she felt. She managed to ease the muscle damage and bruising somewhat last night, but her ribs were still very much _broken_.

"I give," She said laughing, with all of Sasuke's blankets dumped over her head "Oh, man. I need a shower."

Shikako ran her fingers hard along her scalp when she freed herself from the cloth – _didn't_ **panic** about being trapped _smothered_. It's not the same. It's notthesame. _It'snot_ **thesame.**

She distracted herself with the small forest of twigs and crushed leaf fragments stuck in her hair that she hadn't cared about last night _one bit_ – so say nothing of the sand ingrained into skull. Grasping, _crushing-._

'Yep, definitely need a shower' she thought to herself steadyingly as she unwove her plait to free an especially stabby wood fragment.

Naruto made a soft sound, which was followed by "Ne Kako, I didn't know your hair was _so_ _long_. It's pretty."

"That's why I keep it up," She said laughing, because that was such a kind-but-completely-ADHD Naruto thing to say.

"If you two don't want to run home, you can borrow Shika's clothes." Shika spluttered inarticulately for a moment, and Shikako continued on blithely "But whatever, you guys have to be back for breakfast."

* * *

It's unbelievably good to wash away the remains of the battle, and the hot water eases something her novice Medic Jutsu just can't manage.

Still damp, and safely within her locked room, Shikako critically examines her ribs – and groans quietly.

She really should have expected this – _it's such an obvious flaw in the design._

It was created specifically to conceal the chakra stained skin – and it does. _Exactly._

It's not glaring the way it would have been if she could see them in full colour – and the general blotchiness of the injury help, but she can still _read_ the marks.

She covered her face with both hands and groaned again.

 _'No one must ever know of this!'_

Shikako heals the last of the bruising, and the marks stand out in contrast of the milky paleness of skin that has never seen sunlight.

At least she was not so arrogant when creating the seal that she didn't include a key to open it up again for future updates – not that she had time for that right now. It took a few minutes to even get the 'key' into the right place, and when she did; Shikako simply hit the 'refresh' button on the camouflage matrix and watched with mixed feelings as the shadows of her marks faded away.

It was nice to see them again… but in purple, it felt like her team had become distanced from her somehow; even though most of them were just downstairs, close as ever.

Mechanically, Shikako dressed, plaited her hair and went downstairs to make breakfast.

Somewhat hilariously, when Shikako walked downstairs, she found that her three boys were in identical brown trousers and mesh tops – though Naruto had his garish orange jacket on over the top; beaten and ground in with dirt as it was.

Sasuke was the only one not wearing a jacket, and he looked a little uncomfortable in his own skin…

Shikako wondered how long it had been since he had worn clothing without his family crest emblazoned proudly across it.

Naruto tied to help with the cooking, but honestly he was worse than useless – he was an active liability!

Eventually she just _had to_ send him into the dining room with a 'cooking' pot of instant Raman, and firm instructions not to burn it.

It shouldn't be necessary, and it shouldn't be _possible_ – but those things have never mattered before, and it seemed very unlikely that they'd start to now.

Fortunately, Naruto was in his element now, regaling the others with his part in the battle against Gaara.

"But then I was like 'aww, Boss, there aren't any other toads that are as big and as awesome as you' and he was like 'well, you're right about that, brat' even though I probably didn't have enough chakra to summon any other toads anyway and I've only had the contract for a little while so it's not like I know all the toads, either…"

The boys were recounting the previous day at the table, and Shikako only half listened to Naruto' s story as she made breakfast, in part because she was there, but also because ' _oh god, what if Gamabunta hadn't helped?'_.

He was still maybe a little low on chakra, by Naruto standards anyway, but he seemed largely recovered.

"Where'd you get a Summoning Contract, anyway?" Sasuke asked curiously, and Shikako remembered that Sasuke hadn't known about it at all; she was probably a bad friend or something for not telling him during her visits.

Oh well, Naruto was with her on the first visit, he could have mentioned it then if he'd wanted to.

She really hoped she wouldn't have to rehash the 'please don't reverse summon yourself to an unknown place where unknown things might decide to kill you' argument again – once was really more than enough.

"The pervy sage had it," Naruto replied easily. "He let me sign it when I got him to teach me for the Exam."

"Most clans have a few summoning scrolls," Shikako chimed in, desperate to encourage anything that wouldn't result in Sasuke throwing himself into the aether and hoping it didn't eat him. "They aren't rare." Shikako hesitated, and then ploughed onwards because this was _important_. "I'm not sure how organised the Uchiha were, but you've probably got a few hidden away in the compound."

"Hn," was all Sasuke had to say. The Uchiha… that was a topic that got tiptoed around so obviously it did nothing but highlight the issue. Shikako was as guilty of it as anyone, maybe even more. She wanted to help Sasuke, but how? And did she even deserve to, after _just letting it happen_?

She couldn't tell him about Danzo, or the councils, hand in his clans fate. That was just a no-win situation.

They talked for a bit about Summons – Naruto was certain that Toads were the best Summons out there. They came in _orange_ after all, and as far as Naruto was concerned, _that_ 's what really mattered.

It was bizarre and jarring and domestic. Shikako's breath hitched, hand trembling on the counter. Yesterday… they were fighting for their lives. They were… at war. This morning it was like some fever dream, and Shikako cooked breakfast and laughed with her brother and boys like _nothing_ happened.

It felt… unreal.

Shikako shook it off, she was cooking breakfast because they needed to eat before going to help the clean-up; or whatever was going on this morning. She dished up an extra bowl when she felt Mum stirring upstairs.

Naruto was doing his part to keep his generally introverted audience talking, though he was mostly filling the silence with his own voice.

He just got to the part when he and Gamabunta performed a 'Combination Transformation Jutsu', and that the first thing that came to mind when he heard 'teeth and claws' was the Kyuubi.

Sasuke frowned and tilted his head slightly. "Did you choose the Nine Tailed Fox because you're its host?"

Naruto choked, then coughed, then swayed.

"Er, well… _whuu_ …?"

Sasuke looked at him with a singularly unimpressed dead stare.

"Where'd ya hear something like that?"

Sasuke sighed, sounding much put upon, then recited:

"Now I want to cut you open almost as much as your teammates. That you could be as interesting as a Jinchuuriki and a Dōjutsu wielder is quite an achievement."

Shikako shuddered at the reminder, but Sasuke continued before she could think too much on it.

They both failed to see the sudden stillness that overtook Shikamaru.

"So unless there's something I don't know about the both of us, that only really leaves _one option_."

"I, uh. Yeah. Yeah I am… but… it wouldn't be weird… to not know something like that… I mean. I didn't even know about it till after graduation…"

Naruto stared determinedly down at his soup and didn't look back up.

"Che. Moron. You think I'd be scared or something? Of you?" Sasuke scoffed again, and shovelled more rice into his mouth.

Naruto still looked decidedly uncomfortable, though his expression now had an edge of painful hope to it.

"Is it useful at least?" Sasuke asked the silent blond after a moment.

"Um, well, it's not like I've ever really tried to use it. I mean, the only times I've used it were when the pervy sage threw me off a cliff and … in Wave Country when…" he trailed off.

A stillness settled between them.

"Yeah, so," Naruto coughed, awkwardly, clearing his throat.

"You two already knew," Sasuke stated, looking between the twins. Observation rather than question.

"I never did mention running into Gaara at the hospital, did I?" She realised, it had seemed like nothing in the face of an attack by Orochimaru. "Me, Shika, and Naruto were all visiting the hospital, and we interrupted Gaara trying to kill Lee… It came out then." That wasn't exactly descriptive, but Shikako wasn't the best storyteller. He could ask Naruto about it later. "It was up to Naruto to tell you after, since it's a capital offence to tell someone about it… 'Cept Naruto, it being his secret an all…"

They bantered softly a bit, about Naruto's general harmlessness ("Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto protested) until Mum came down.

"Morning, kids," She said brightly, coming into the room.

Shikako greeted her as she sat down, but it was purely a reflexive action.

The twins couldn't help but stare, _just a little bit._

It felt **wrong** to see her in uniform, with a Chūnin flak jacket and forehead protector.

Her mother, her 'home'; suddenly become her mother, _the shinobi._

Mum's explanation of 'a state of emergency' only raised more questions. Even an invasion of the kind seen yesterday wasn't truly considered a state of emergency.

At Shika's prompting Mum informed them all with some exhaustion, and no attempt at softening the blow, that the Hokage was dead.

And Naruto, looked like the world was falling down around him. He shook his head, already in the denial stage of grieving process for his grandfather figure.

"No. Nonono…"

Shikako didn't like the Hokage, and in some of her more cynical moods she even doubted the old man's affection for Naruto: but she had never doubted _Naruto's_. He was the Naruto's first precious person, the man he wanted to _be_ when he grew up – the old man that took him out to ramen and told him off for pranking.

He was also the dictator of militarised state, and Shikako hissed a breath; because while she didn't like the Third, she _hated_ some of the people that would use this time to grab all the power they could.

"How?" Sasuke asked dully.

And Mum told them all about Orochimaru being disguised as the Kazekage, and the battle where the Hokage used a suicide Jutsu to seriously injure the traitor.

When Shikako queried why it took so long, the answer she got was not a comforting one.

It made sense for battle protocols to run without the upper ranks, but her comments about the bureaucracy worried Shikako greatly. Just _who_ was in charge? And what to what would they do with their new found power?

"Oh. No wonder Dad was out so late," Shikako murmured, and hoped that he hadn't found himself alone in a room with a certain councilman at any point during the… ever.

The previous good mood had dissipated, with Naruto silent and grieving for the rest of breakfast. Shikako wanted to comfort him, but what would she say? She leaned a shoulder against his silently for a few moments in lieu of words; because even if she wasn't sad about 'The God of Shinobi' dying, she cared that Naruto was sad about it.

Rather than burden the hospital, Shikako crossed the clan grounds to where she could feel Aunt Igaku performing her morning exercises. For her troubles, Shikako got a bruised cranium, two ringing ears, and a flawlessly healed set of ribs.

Somehow, Shikako had forgotten that Aunt Kofuku was 'the reasonable sister'.

When she got back, Shikako found that Sasuke had run home and back to fetch a crested jacket, but had otherwise kept Shika's clothes – which Shikako found oddly sweet – and that Mum had already left to relieve one of the Chūnin patrols.

Outside, there were red 'state of emergency' flags flying half-mast, and as they made their way to the line for the mission desk, the message system started repeated a blip every half hour.

'Hokage down. State of Emergency in effect. All ninja report to temporary stations'.

Team 7 and Shika meandered over to a message board, checking out the damage reports, and the list of the injured and dead. There was also an announcement sheet, proclaiming a memorial tomorrow for the dead Hokage.

It all seemed very… clinical.

* * *

It wasn't long until they made it to the desk Chūnin, who took one look at the assembled Genin and assigned them Clean up on Sector 9-b, he simply handed them a scroll with the pertinent information and didn't even bother to dismiss them.

They scampered out of the way and unrolled the scroll to find out where to go, what to do, and who to report to.

Shikako found it unnerving; walking through the empty streets, past scorch marks, and knife marks and blood splatters. Collapsed roofs, and blown out walls. Evidence of yesterday's attack.

It left all of them all noticeably unsettled.

They reported in to the gruff and exhausted Chūnin in charge of overseeing Sector 9, and he set them to work in short order before vanishing.

It was a little labour intensive… but fishing up discarded weapons, and plastering over the holes, wasn't difficult or dangerous. It was even a little boring, though after _yesterday_ boredom was more than welcome.

Shikako even started using chakra strings to pick up the loose weapons on the ground after a little while, which was a little tricky – but her ribs were still feeling a little tender so she didn't really want to bend down.

They found all manner of weaponry, and even a dead body; which meant that they got to learn how to make a body scroll, so that was… something.

It was actually quite interesting, seeing the stabilisation mechanism and preservation elements. Shikako dedicated the painted black band to memory, because that was probably an important thing to remember… _and polite…_

It was boring, and not really helping, but they did it anyway; mostly for a lack of anything better to do.

After the Chūnin checked over their sector, he signed them off with a distracted, "Good work. Thanks."

When they went back to the Mission's Desk they were split up.

The boys got to go off and haul rubble or something for the construction site, and Shikako ran supplies for the hospital. It smacked of sexism to her, but Shikako recognised that this was neither the time, nor the place, to become a social justice warrior.

The hospital staff were run off their feet, in constant motion with most of them looking at least as exhausted as their patients.

Harried and stressed; like they'd had one cup of coffee too many, one hour of sleep too few and the end of the world was right around the corner.

Shikako could relate.

More lift and carry work, just medical supplies rather than weapons this time. Dull and boring, but _necessary;_ and it was visibly 'helping', which made Shikako feel better about it.

It was good to snatch a quick reunion with Sakura though, to reassure the medic in training that all the Rookie 9 were okay.

It was a predictably tedious few minutes while Shikako tried to convince Sakura she as not dying. Eventually, the pink haired girl slowly performed a standard Diagnostic Jutsu and saw for herself.

They chatted for a bit while they worked, but eventually had to part ways; promising to catch up later.

Shikako's next mission was 'paperwork gopher' around the Hokage Tower. She got to see Dad briefly, and didn't see any 'one-eyed' councilmen, so it was a pretty okay posting all told.

* * *

The day of the Thirds funeral was miserably overcast and damp; it felt a bit like a movie, where the weather reflects the current tone of the story.

They, two blocks of mourners in strict military rows, were dressed in heavy black cotton; they were uniform in their mourning clothes, as they were uniform in their mourning.

Except of course, that they _weren't_. Thankfully, ninja were stoic in their grief, so her black face didn't stand out in the crowd.

The ceremony atop the roof of the Hokage's Tower, was a simplistic affair.

Shikako examined the proceedings dully; wondering at the inclusion of the Rookie 9, and what actions had so distinguished the six subjects of the photographs arrayed around the Thirds.

It was a very basic service, with its unlit incense; the starkness of its black and white colouring.

The great bells that had announced the end of battle just two days ago began tolling once again, loud peels announcing the beginning of the funeral.

Mitokado began the ceremony, standing beside Koharu Utatane; Danzo was conspicuously absent.

Shikako didn't exactly mind that he was _away from her,_ but she did wonder what he was up to with so many of the elites and higher ups tied up in this formality.

Shikako didn't feel much of anything for the service itself – but her heart swelled with pity for Konohamaru. She was also reminded of just why she liked Iruka-sensei so much when the academy teacher broke protocol to comfort him.

It started raining half way through the service - the fine pervasive rain that chilled to the bone in moments.

When Asuma-sensei's murmured, dry eyed and exhausted "Even the heavens weep." Shikako's heat went out to him too. The Hokage was his father after all, and Shikako had heard that their relationship was... fraught, to say the least. She wondered if they had reconciled before the end; or if things remained unsettled between them, even parted by the grave as they were.

Shikako felt the ache of sympathy in her chest, though she and her father are likely on better terms _even now_ than the Sarutiobi's had enjoyed in quite some time.

It was a valuable reminder, life is fleeting - especially in this place - so you should make the most of the bonds you have.

You never know when they'll be broken...

"… and even though we have suffered a loss, we have survived. We will keep on surviving. Our Will of Fire burns brightly and will continue to burn for as long as we keep fighting…"

She stared at the proud display, and wondered about that central picture for the first time.

It was common knowledge now that the Third Hokage had died sealing the resurrected First and Second Hokages. That he had summoned the Shinigami - the Death God - and forfeited his own soul in exchange.

It was a terrifying thought… to be able to summon and bind a soul…

She wondered exactly what had been brought back by that technique... An imprint? A memory of a soul? Had they been pulled from those reincarnation with this old memories restored? There was distinction made in some branches of sealing between 'soul' and 'spirit' even though they seem to be referencing the same phenomenon... Shikako wondered at the implications of what Dad said, when he'd spoken about the Nara 'spiritual affinity' for shadow; the indication that the 'spirit' element was a blood inheritance of some kind... how did that fit in with the 'soul' narrative?

Spiritual energy was formed of the mind, and physical energy the body... but the seat of the soul is the heart - hence Sasori of the Red Sand being 'alive' with only the aforementioned organ surviving from his natural body...

Previously it had seemed very cut and dry, but the more she thought about it now... the more uncertain nature seemed.

Where there truly higher powers that set the course of history?

That judged the dead?

It was tempting to say 'reincarnation' and leave the matter at that – but it was an obviously incomplete answer, and Shikako knew she wouldn't be able to let it go.

Just like the question of the soulmarks, this query would never again be far from her mind.

There was only one certainty to be found this line of thinking. Shikako did not want to die, could not bear to lose everything ever again. She just **couldn't** , no matter what came afterwards.

"Why do people do it? Why do they risk their lives for other people?" Naruto asked, bleak and hoarse, washed out by the rain and black.

Iruka-sensei stepped up to the plate this one, thoughtful and soft voiced he talked about the bonds been people; and how even though that person is gone, the shared circle of friendship, trust and sacrifice that bind people only grows. These are thoughts and concepts that she understands, but they aren't phrased quite the way she thinks of them - that is the main problem she has here. She is out of sync... _other_.

Things here are not mysteries _incomprehensible_ to her - but the difference is big enough to isolate.

"So we do it because we have to. Sort of" Naruto said. "Still, I'm sad he's gone."

"Think how sad it would be if he died for nothing," Kakashi-sensei added softly. Sensei had been late, but he'd slid into the ranks with all the stealth of an ex-ANBU captain and no one had batted an eye. "But he left us something priceless. Don't worry. You'll understand one of these days."

"Hey, gimme some credit," Naruto said, a faint hint of a laugh in his voice. "That much I get."

And then the sun came out and started to shine.

* * *

Shikako decided that they needed a 'pick me up', and dragged them off to see Karin; it would be first time since the Forest of Death that she and Sasuke met.

Shikako was really hoping that the Uzumaki female didn't turn into some rabid fangirl as soon she laid eyes on the Uchiha - as common and well documented as that particular affliction was.

Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened.

It was only after the redhead fretted anxiously over Naruto and Shikako for a few minutes (complaining at them for not coming sooner) that she even seemed to notice he was there in the first place.

Her reaction was admittedly a little odd though...

She frowned at them all, examining then intently with weirdly unfocused eyes.

"What's up?" Shikako asked lightly, because if something is wrong _now_ , then Shikako is going to lock herself in her room until the end of the world - it won't even be that long of a wait.

"It's nothing... I just, thought it was it was weird that you all have such nice feeling chakra - and I looked closer and... you all feel kinda _the same_. And, ya shouldn't really, since you've all got different natures..."

Karin frowned some more.

"You're not all related somehow are you?"

This was so far in from left field that the three of them simply stared, speechless, for a long moment.

Shikako and Sasuke had a superficial likeness that came from being fair skinned and with dark hair and eyes.

Neither could claim even the _slightest_ resemblance to Naruto though.

"Um. No." Here Shikako slanted an apologetic eye to Naruto; she would have claimed him in a second if there was any hint of a relation in the clan archives, but there are no instances of Uzimaki's, or Uchiha's marring into or out of the Nara clan. Interestingly, though, while scanning over the clan records, she had seen a notice of one 'Nara Tsuge' moving to Uzu to marry into the 'Umino Clan' just after the First War… which was interesting on _so many levels_ …

Karin tilted her head a little, and her eyes sharpened; like she was using _them_ to examine them for the first time.

"You sure?"

This time it was Sasuke who spoke up.

"Pretty sure."

"Huh." And with that, and an extra frown, the matter was dropped.

They spent the rest of the visit talking about random stuff. The invasion featured heavily course, and Karin told them about her own experience of it - being moved to a different, more secure and less comfortable room and left there with enough supplies for a week's isolation. She'd been there less than a full day, in Karin's own estimation, and she didn't seem overly bothered by her circumstances during the invasion.

She rather took exception to the task handed to the Rookie 9 _however_.

"The Sand Jinchuuriki? Your Sensei sent 9 Genin after Gaara of the Desert? And _you_ led them?" Here she rounded squarely on Shikako, turning away from Naruto the tattle-tale.

"Last week you were dying, and they had you lead a suicide mission?" Karin was looking like she suddenly found herself doubting her decision to seek refuge in Konoha.

 _'Ugh, this again!'_

"At no point was I dying!" Somehow people seem to always forget that _small detail,_ "And I accepted that mission of my own volition."

Shikako paused, then coughed a little awkwardly.

"And also Kakashi-sensei may have been under the impression that I was back on full duty."

Silence hung in the air for a moment, suspended by sheer _outraged_ _disbelief_.

"You're not back on active duty." Sasuke states flatly, which is not _totally_ inaccurate.

Thankfully, it's not quite accurate _either_.

"I am!" Shikako protested feeling offended "I wouldn't have put you at risk by accepting leadership of a mission I was unfit for! Yes I'm technically on 'light duty' but in case you didn't notice - we were _at war_ two days ago. I didn't have time to pander to old women who haven't set foot in the field for twenty years!"

'Reign it in,' Shikako told herself firmly - it was just _so_ **hard** to keep being the reasonable person. The one who **always** had to be _calm_ , and _reasoned_ , and hide away her weakness - knowing that it would be capitalised on in an instant.

"I was careful, I promise, and I'll keep being careful with my condition. But I won't **ever** abandon my comrades. I won't watch you walk towards danger without guarding your backs - and don't even try to sell me the lie that either of you would do _any_ different."

They left the meeting _even more_ subdued than when they went in - which had to be some kind of _reverse achievement_ or something.

* * *

The next few days were much the same, clean up duty and extra patrols (with added heaping's of angst and disapproval on the side for Shikako).

They still fund time for team and individual training, though not much.

They saw Karin again when Shikako was called in two days later, and the refugee was obviously proud when they were informed that the Uzumaki would be released from protective custody in a week. As her sponsor, Shikako was very busy setting up housing and a trainee position at the hospital for the girl.

In her own name, and subsidising the initial difference from the allotted housing striped out of her own pocket, the Nara acquired a small two bedroom flat in a decent part of town for the Uzumaki. The landlord looked like he was going to complain when Team 7 helped move Naruto's meagre belongings over, but he suddenly found himself in a much more agreeable mood when he saw Shikako's looming shadow, and Sasuke's swirling red eyes.

When Naruto started to get weepy over it, Shikako immediately suggested they go out for celebratory Ichiraku Raman, before the blond could have _feelings_ all over them.

It only mostly worked.

Eventually, they were dropped back down to regular duties, though they didn't have Kakashi-sensei to watch over them, as he was caught up in internal meetings - and probably having to fight taking The Hat himself.

The remaining three-quarters of Team 7 trained and took D Ranks as usual; Kakashi's absence had strangely little effect on their day-to-day operations.

Shikako wondered if that was intentional.

That wasn't to say that there was no more reconstruction to do; but it was the kind of stuff they needed specialists for. Fixing roofs and rebuilding walls, repairing damaged electrical systems and the like - nothing Genin could help with.

As usual they had their 'morning briefing' where Shikako apprised them of the latest intel and gossip relating to the invasion. She found these meetings to be very useful all round; honing her information gathering and dissemination skills, Naruto's general intelligence, and Sasuke's patience.

The discussion was actually a fairly complicated one: the differences between retreat and surrender, and the complication of Orochimaru's involvement - what Shikako took away from the whole thing was that they were all slightly better and more-rounded individuals for participating.

Things were a little more strained when the topic of the next Hokage came up... Naruto had probably imagined _being_ the next Hokage.

Imagined that the old man would be the one to put that Hat his head.

Shikako hoped that when Naruto _did_ become Hokage one day, that the moment wasn't too tarnished his absence.

When Sasuke asked who she thought world be the next Hokage, Shikako thought for a moment about it. She knew the line of succession obviously. Tsunade, Danzo, Kakashi...

'Let's play the 'what can I reasonably infer' game.' Shikako thought sardonically to herself.

"Jiraiya-sama, probably," and Naruto yelped, nearly fell over, and started protesting vehemently. "As a Sannin, he's strong and well known. The other viable Sannin, Tsunade, hasn't been seen in years… not that I've heard of Jiraiya being around _either_. Hmm… Kakashi-sensei, maybe, though he doesn't seem like he'd want the job."

Sasuke raised a disbelieving eyebrow at that, but Naruto was still too busy spluttering incoherently over the possibility of the Pervy Sage being Hokage.

"Really?" The Uchiha asked.

Shikako thought of their chronically late and lazy Sensei running the village with the lackadaisical manner he used to train the three of them, and winced a little.

Shaking the thought away, she reminded them about what Zabuza said: the kill on sight order. He was both powerful and famous enough for the job.

"Other than that… Asuma-sensei maybe. He was one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, so he'd have the Daimyo's ear at least." _As well as being famous and the Third's son._

She very purposefully skirted round the matter of Danzo

"My Dad, _maybe_ , but he doesn't have that much of a combat reputation. Not compared to the others." And wasn't that a weird thought… a bit scary too. She'd never be able to escape his oppressive overprotectiveness if that happened.

The Third Hokage… was a genius. They had called him the God of Shinobi; he was Hokage by age 22 and survived the tail of the Warring States Era, the founding of Konoha, the Three Shinobi World Wars, and the Kyuubi attack that killed his successor.

That was the kind a reputation a Kage _needed_ to have, especially after an attack like this one. Hidden Cloud were just waiting for their chance to take advantage of any weakness.

"That would be really weird," Naruto said, apparently having moved past 'Pervert Sage as Hokage' only to be stuck on 'Sensei as Hokage'.

Shikako couldn't disagree, even though she knew it would happen eventually – _probably_.

When a messenger bird summoned Sasuke away, Shikako quietly suggested they wait for him outside the tower, so they can grab something to eat and then get back to training.

They didn't protest – Shikako knew that Team 7 were becoming increasingly _clingy,_ perhaps even co-dependant. She couldn't find it in herself to think this was a bad thing; not in the light of everything that was to come.

She and Naruto waited outside the Hokage Building, the blond complaining endlessly about being hungry. Apparently he ran into Konohamaru and hadn't eaten this morning. Shikako rolled her eyes at him, but swallowed the lecture on proper nutrition – if it hadn't sunk in by now, it probably never would.

She simply handed over a bento – to tide him over until they could go to Ichiraku's.

While he chowed down, Shikako tried again to recall what happens next. There was something important just out of reach. Tsunade would be the Fifth Hokage, if Before held true, but she wasn't in the village… for some reason… Some tragedy Shikako couldn't quite recall. Vaguely, Shikako remembered Jiraiya had gone to get her – possibly taking Naruto? It really was such a long time ago…

But there was something else… hovering outside of her recollection.

There were no further incursions, and they probably wouldn't get any dangerous missions until Kakashi-sensei was able to supervise them again. She and Sasuke were probably in for a boring couple of weeks while Naruto went off to retrieve the next Hokage.

"Well, hey. I didn't know you ate anything other than ramen all the time," a familiar voice called from the street.

And _think of the devil…_

"Jiraiya-sama," Shikako greeted with a smile, as Naruto spluttered around a mouth full of rice. "How are you?"

"Busy," he replied cheerfully. "So many places to research, so little time to do it!"

Shikako had to grin a little at their interaction, Jiraiya really did like to play up his… more eccentric tendencies, and Naruto treated him like an embarrassing uncle or something – a role the Sanin took up almost eagerly. Watching him cajole and convince the blond Uzumaki to come on the 'Research Trip' was hilarious; Naruto should **know better** by now _really._

"Don't forget to use your sealing!" She called out to his retreating back.

Shikako watched him leave with fond exasperation and sighed. "Hook, line and sinker."

Jiraiya chuckled. "Too easy," he agreed.

Then she asked where they were off to, and the Toad Sage's attitude was so _perfectly_ laid back that it instantly triggered her suspicions. She didn't see any reason to keep those suspicions to herself, so she asked him outright if he was getting Tsunade to be the next Hokage.

He chuckled again at her insight, neither conforming nor denying her observation, and Shikako noticed that he did that a lot. She wondered if he genuinely found things funny, or if the appearance of an affable nature was simply useful for him as a spymaster.

Whatever the _elusive thing_ that was bothering her _was,_ it was probably about Naruto or Sasuke; because it **always was.** At least, all of her knowledge from Before focused almost exclusively on the two of them.

They were they _focus_ of the 'story', though this life had ceased to be a story a long time ago.

Why take Naruto with him anyway?

When Shikako asked if Naruto was safe, she almost slapped herself in the face at the stupidity of the question. Of course the Jinchuuriki, village pariah, son of the Fourth Hokage was _not safe._ Jiraiya's easy dismissal and booming laugh didn't comfort her in the slightest.

"Why wouldn't he be?" She echoed, looking away. Madara… Pein's organisation, they were hunting Jinchuuriki… and Itachi, he was part of that group. That twanged the thin thread that reached out blindly into her Before memory.

The formless, unseen worry.

Shikako couldn't help the shudder that came then, and hoped, _hoped,_ that he wouldn't show up.

Distracting herself from her speculations, Shikako asked how Jiraiya was going to find an S-Rank Nin who didn't want to be found.

The following discussion was an interesting one, because Shikako had almost forgotten Tsunade's… proclivities, since all the records of her in this world emphasised only her power and skill.

'Follow the money' was one of the basic tenets of ninja investigations, and that it could be used to track even a great Shinobi like Tsunade was almost a surprise, even though it shouldn't have been.

Shikako nodded, accepting that Naruto would be safe in Jiraiya's care; even though that meant he would have to be away. For a little while now, and a long while later.

Being so small and weak sucked, and Shikako was determined to get past that stage in her development as soon as possible.

"So how are your seals coming along, huh?" Jiraiya asked, unsubtly changing the topic from his mission.

Shikako was only too happy to pick his brain on the topic of his mastery. _So much_ of what she needed was currently beyond her limits. Something to increase her chakra reserves, mitigate the Sharingan and Rinnegan eyes, block summons, and negate Time-Space techniques like that intangibility thing Madara had.

But what she really wanted to talk about _now_ was how to replicate the effects of the Hiraishin… so she approached it carefully.

Not carefully enough, apparently.

To be fair, while asking about how to integrate seals to operate using both your own chakra _and_ the chakra in the air was probably acceptable. On the other hand, her questions about activating far off seals, and the effects of degradation over distance crossed, _might_ have been too much?

Shikako stood straight, and braced herself for whatever was coming.

"Go back to that part about the chakra in the air," The Toad Sage murmured slowly, eyes lazily surveying their surroundings.

"Umm," Shikako said intelligently, totally thrown for a loop. "It's just sort of there? Everything gives off chakra just from being alive." She fumbled the words, because it was _hard_ … trying to describe what was _just there_ wasn't easy.

Jiraiya looked pained. Definitely pained.

"You haven't tried to … use this … chakra in the air, have you?"

Shikako tilted her head, and thought about her answer – which was technically _yes_.

Her Markless Seal was crafted by her own chakra, and then maintained wholly by natural chakra. But that wasn't something she was going to be talking about with Jiraiya _ever._

There were other seals that used exclusively Natural energy to function, but as she couldn't recall ever actually using them, she answered "No. It's not mine, I mean… I've seen some seals that use it, and I just wanted to know if it could be used to lessen the chakra cost of some of the more powerful seals I've been looking into lately." She said. "I don't – maybe calling it chakra is wrong." It was like chakra more than it was like physical or mental energy but it still wasn't…

"It's called natural energy," Jiraiya said lowly. "And you shouldn't be able to sense it. Dammit, this is not something Genin should be messing with." He rubbed his face tiredly. "Don't try and use it without training." His face was unusually serious and the Nara nodded silently. She remembered that Naruto's sage training had been dangerous.

Jiraiya frowned at her, like she wasn't taking it seriously enough, and continued on with his spiel: it'll kill you or worse, and only after many years of study, and meditation, and pondering the sound of one hand clapping could a person become a Sage and learn to manipulate this energy.

Shikako couldn't help the speculative tilt of her head as she examined the S-Rank nin in front of her.

"You're one, though, aren't you?" She asked. "The Toad Sage."

His lips twitched unhappily.

"That's even rarer. Some Summon animals have the ability to teach… if they think you're worthy. The Deer might have their own sages... but even already having a contract doesn't guarantee that they will agree to teach you the Sage Arts – supposing they know how in the first place." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "… You might have better luck trying at the Fire Temple. Most temples have some unique sealing techniques, so I'd recommend visiting them anyway."

'Interesting…' Shikako pondered that, she would _definitely_ be asking Heijomaru or Ikoma about that the next time she was able to summon one of them.

Unfortunately, or maybe thankfully, Naruto turned up before anything could be said, and after checking his storage scrolls (not perfect, but serviceable enough to last for at least three months before the slight misalignment of power modulator and the stabilisation mechanism caused catastrophic failure, and the seal was forced to disgorge its contents) and wished them good luck.

Shikako was worried, but Jiraiya was a legendary ninja for a reason, he would protect Naruto. He was respected and feared across the elemental nations, had survived two Great Wars, with over forty years' experience as a ninja.

Somehow, that felt like a cold comfort.

* * *

Sasuke emerged from the tower not long after they left, and Shikako _burned_ to know what he had spent so long in there over; but he looked… troubled, and Shikako knew better than to press. She explained that Naruto was out of the Village with Jiraiya on a mission as they made their way over to the training grounds – since they'd both had breakfast already.

They fought Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, and ironically Sasuke's distractedness meant he was putting more effort into their spar than usual – she was still slowly breaking him out of the 'Shikako is a delicate flower' mentality that so many of their contemporaries had fallen into.

They'd only gone a couple rounds when Shikako called for them to take a break, eat something, and then maybe move on to a little sealing study.

They weren't making much progress, and it was up to Shikako to figure out _why_ and how to fix it.

When the Uchiha glared into the Tupperware box like it had personally offended him, and chomped down on his rice like he was imagining it was imagining crushing _all rice_ out of existence; Shikako decided to stop avoiding the issue.

Then almost choked, because everything she could think of seemed either trite or condescending.

"You okay?" She settled on eventually

He grunted, and shoved more rice aggressively into mouth.

Not the best start to a conversation Shikako has ever heard, but at least he hasn't told her to get lost…

Before the awkward silence forces her to make further attempts to stimulate conversation, Sasuke deflates slightly and begins to speak very softly.

"I know why you kept me back, in the fight with Gaara. Naruto… has a greater power, and a Summon Contract… and that meant he could fight. And I couldn't. I saw you fall, and it was like-" he cut himself off suddenly and looked away "I can't let that happen again. I need to be stronger. Faster, and with more powerful techniques, better – _just better._ I need a Summons Contract of my own." He sounds frustrated, and Shikako had the thousand reasons _not_ to Reverse Summon on the tip of her tongue when Sasuke continued. "There's an Uchiha outpost with the Hawk Summons Contract in it," in the fraction of a second pause as he draws breath, Shikako was suddenly boneless with relief, "But I can't get permission to go alone. I need an _escort_ apparently, and Sensei is too busy. I can't get the Contract, or training and-"he cuts himself off again, and his eyes drop back down to the food.

'And it sucks,' Shikako finished mentally, repeating the sentiment from earlier.

Sasuke also wanted to get this 'being small and weak' business over and done with as soon as possible.

Tentatively, Shikako laid a hand on his arm and smiled. "Why don't we skip Sealing just this once, and track down Kakashi-sensei? That way we can make plans… for new Jutsu requirements, and travel…" She trailed off hopefully, and the moment seemed very fragile.

Then Sasuke smiled a little at her, just one side of his mouth kicking up almost involuntarily.

"Yeah, let's go find Kakashi-sensei, I bet he's just been telling everyone he's really busy so he can read that dirty book of his _anyway_."

Shikako couldn't help but laugh at that thought – and in a non-emergency situation, she can totally see that happening.

She felt optimistic as she re-sealed the half eaten lunch, and they make their way to Sensei's house.

She was _sure_ that they would be able to bully Kakashi-sensei into setting up a plan of action that would satisfy Sasuke's need for progression, though it might take a while to track him down and get him to listen.

Shikako was almost surprised when she felt Kakashi's chakra signature actually in his house.

Shikako was definitely surprised when she felt the presence of three other Jōnin-sensei in there with him.

Suddenly the ominous inkling of _something_ _wrong_ intensified tenfold.

When Shikako looked back on this moment, she would wish that she had steered Sasuke away for more training, informing him that Kakashi was in a Jōnin meeting.

But that's not what she did.

Instead, Shikako raced forwards instantly, slipping into the building and up the stairs as quickly as she could manage; because even from her former position from the street, she could see that there was something _not right_ with her Sensei's chakra.

* * *

Notes:

I don't know why Silver Queen had Sasuke called into the Administration Tower, but the visit was extended by his asking for permission to go and get the Hawk Summons.


	17. Chapter 17 Tsukuyomi Part 2

Chapter 17 Tsukuyomi Part 2

* * *

Hi all, hope you're doing okay, and enjoying the story so far. As ever, this is inspired by Silver Queens DOS and will have some content from that fic put in here raw. Thanks to MathisMagic, my Beta, and all of you. Thank you for reading and commenting – I especially love your reviews because they often inspire me to take the fic in different directions.

WARNING: This one is going to be a little… Dark, I expand a little on what the Tsukuyomi actually does, where Silver Queen details the psychological damage of seeing the Uchiha massacre by having Shikako skirt around the issue… which fits with her character, but as Shikako is not the direct narrator, I've decided to really pile on the suffering and explore it a little.

* * *

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." Mark Twain

* * *

Shikako had been _so confident_ when they'd made their way over to Sense's house; _so certain_ they could address the issues disquieting her Uchiha teammate.

She was so very _wrong_.

The scene she and Sasuke barged in on was not what she had initially imagined, not that she really knew what to expect…

Asuma, Gai and Kurenai are littered around Sensei's bedroom, in a way that Shikako was certain her Sensei would disapprove of if he was conscious enough to do so, looking battered and… damp?

The two Genin share an uncertain look, and Sasuke grilled the Jōnin on _what on earth_ had lead up to this circumstance while Shikako ran a Diagnostic on Kakashi-sensei.

She can't find anything really wrong with him. There were traces of water in his lungs, some minor bruising – but there is absolutely no reason for his unconsciousness. Moving her hands up from his chest to his head, Shikako focused with _everything she had_ – and still came up with _nothing_.

Shikako was not skilled enough in Iryō Ninjutsu to pick apart what the signals in his brain meant, but somehow they seemed – off. Subdued, like his chakra… and while she couldn't say for certain _why_ she couldn't help but feel that Sensei was… _awake_ in some way, despite his obvious unconsciousness.

Behind her, the Jōnin were being difficult, and a vaguely familiar signature raced down the hallway.

She turned, hands still bracketing Kakashi's skull and emitting green light.

And the answers they have been denied are _so readily_ supplied…

"It is true," The familiar Tokubetsu Jōnin asked breathlessly "that _the_ Itachi is back?"

And the whole universe **halted** , and Shikako was suddenly and painfully aware of every contractive squeeze of her frantic heart, and the reaction of everyone in the room.

Gai's otherwise friendly face twisted in anger, the deadpan that overtook Asuma's expression, and the way Kurenai very slowly closed her eyes; because the damage had clearly been done.

Except that is _hadn't._

Because _the Idiot_ kept going.

"And that he's after Naruto?"

The green glow of hands died, and Shikako only had eyes for Sasuke.

He too had stopped breathing, and Shikako watched as his face twisted in panic and hatred and fear.

 _Desperate fear_ and she remembered his words – words he'd said not ten minutes ago 'I can't let that happen again.'

In her periphery Gai-sensei slapped a hand to his head, but all Shikako saw was the slow way Sasuke turned away from her to face the door.

She knew what was coming, _knew_ that he would leave – find Naruto and face Itachi. She can't let him go alone.

By the time Sasuke had ploughed through the nin in red sunglasses blocking the door, Shikako had released her Resistance Seals and reached down to web the static half of her modified Chūnin Summoning Seal onto Kakashi-sensei's floor.

Shikako blew past the assorted Konoha nin with a chakra enhanced leap; and if she kicked the legs out from under the already unbalanced Special Jōnin, slamming him into the ground as she shot past, well: _fuck that guy._

 _Who wares sunglasses inside anyway?_

Shikako cursed as she followed Sasuke that she had told him where Naruto was going, cursed that she hadn't had time to integrate the things she'd learned this morning into the Recall Seal.

She had been able to do some work on it the past couple days – it now functioned with greater chakra efficiency, and the glaring error of being able to track the body in motion had been solved by the integration of some design elements from the Markless Seal. She'd even decided on a name for the damn thing, which should help – Hearthstone for the fixed half, and Touchstone for the secondary mobile half – though together they unimaginably remained the 'Recall Seal'.

Still no luck on multiple usage front – so Shikako was going to have to _choose_ which of her comrades to attach the Touchstone to… _which one_ to save…

She will probably choose Naruto – he is in real danger: Itachi loves his brother too much to kill him…

Or at least, that belief is what keeps Shikako from planting the Touchstone Seal in his skin _right that instant._

Otafuku-Gai is 12 kilometres away… Shikako has never attempted to move anything that far, for all that her calculations _should_ allow for it… And if not well… there were safety protocols coded into the seal for a reason…

As Shikako closed the gap between them, she called to the Uchiha; telling him they'd be crushed, begging him to reconsider – but he surprised her…

"I know!" Sasuke snapped "We're not going to fight. We just have to warn Naruto."

It warmed some part of her chest that Sasuke included her in that 'we' as thoughtlessly as he had seemed to, but also: Damn, _damn_ , **damnit all.**

They would be no match an S-rank ninja: speed or strength. The most likely outcome was that Itachi had been and gone by the time they'd even got there; hopefully having been rebuffed by Jiraiya.

There was clearly no way to stop Sasuke from going, so Shikako merely followed; matched his speed and hoped to any divine being that might be listening that they survived.

Internally, Shikako was screaming. At herself mostly – because how could she forget about this? _How could she_ _ **still**_ _not remember?_

But what would they do if they actually found Itachi? Try to fight him? They would lose _so fast_ it wouldn't even be a joke – _it would just be a slaughter_. And as much as Sasuke _knew_ that, the fact of their immediate demise probably wouldn't matter if he _saw_ his brother again.

Those wounds were just too deep…

Best-case scenario? They, by some impossible stroke of luck, arrive first and are able to warn Jiraiya – and then they hide behind his brightly coloured robes like the helpless children they are when compared to Itachi.

Anything else was pretty much suicide.

* * *

They bled chakra for speed, the pace was punishing; and when they arrived it seemed to Shikako that they were both too soon and too slow all at once.

It was crowded with some kind of festival and Shikako had to focus to hear anything above the drone hundreds of civilian level chakra signals.

"Where?" Sasuke panted, eyes darting around.

"I'm trying!" She snapped, closing her eyes and reaching out for Naruto's sunshine chakra, or the placid calm of Jiraiya's.

 _'No!'_

"They aren't together!" Shikako bit her tongue and tried to find a way to _breathe_ , to _fix this_ …

She had to keep Sasuke away from Itachi.

"I'll go for Naruto. Jiraiya is in that direction, somewhere. I can't get a lock on him. Use all the stealth you can!" It was a small miracle she could sense him at all, frankly. "Tall, white haired, red haori. His forehead protector has the kanji for 'oil' on it. Find him. I'll get Naruto."

Sasuke wavered and opened his mouth to protest. But Shikako cut him off.

"Itachi knows you, Sasuke! If you go for Naruto -" She cut herself off. "I'm an unknown. Go! Get Jiraiya! We're wasting time!"

She darted away before he could protest, and it was _rude_ , but he could be angry at her _later_ – right now she was too terrified to care.

Shikako crushed her chakra in tightly, hiding it like this was the aftermath of just another nightmare.

As much as this _was_ a nightmare, the monsters she was hiding from were real.

 _The horrors that haunted her dreams always were…_

She found Naruto in short order, both hotel and room. There was no one else in there with him, she realised with some fractional easing of the crushing terror in her chest.

 _There was still time._

Shikako pounded on the door, calling out "It's me, let me in!" rather than use his name and risk drawing any untoward attention.

Naruto opened the door looking puzzled, "Shikako? Why're you here? Did something happen?"

"Yes," She said simply. "Where's Jiraiya?"

 _'Please god,_ know where Jiraiya is! _'_

When he disgustedly informed her that the perv had found a lady, and left him alone, Shikako almost cried.

What to do, what to do, _whattodo_?

 **Leave.**

Would they be safer outside? Not really, but they'd be closer to Jiraiya – and that had to count for something.

"We have to go. Itachi Uchiha is after you," She informed him quickly, uttering that name like a curse... like she was saying _Voldemort_ or something. "You need to stick with Jiraiya. He's already hurt Kakashi-sensei."

"W-what?" Naruto stammered. "Kakashi-sensei is hurt? How?"

"I don't know, he just wouldn't wake up" She tells him anxiously, and regrets it at the stricken look on Naruto's face. "Look, don't think about it right now. Sasuke is looking for Jiraiya. We really need to get you to him _now_ so let's go."

She nudged him back into the room and over to the window.

"Remember Kakashi-sensei's escape and evasion lessons? Now is the time – suppress your chakra first" She ordered, unable to keep her wild eyes from darting around and lessening the sounds of her movement with chakra. She nudged him to do the same.

Naruto frowned at her, confused and perceptive in the way only he could manage. "You're really scared."

"Yes." She really, _really_ was. "Let's go."

Shikako kicked herself when Naruto decided to leave a clone behind, but congratulated him on the idea quietly as they slipped down the street. The fear was overwhelming everything, every thought, every movement out the corner of her eye…

They crept low across the rooftops, silent as death, in the direction of Sasuke and Jiraiya.

Eventually, they dropped soundlessly to the ground in an alleyway; ready to blend into the mass of people on the road.

For a ninja, other people were the best disguise, and Team 7 had an unexpected edge.

Shikako _really thought_ it might work, for a moment; she was already choosing which of the techniques from 'Advanced Disguise Techniques, Theory and Practice: 2nd Edition' she would use.

And maybe they'd have stood a chance, if they'd reached the crowd – but they didn't.

Because with a flicker of speed so fast Shikako didn't _even register_ it, a pair of feet (with incongruously purple nails) stood between them and the mouth of the alley.

Instantly, Shikako wrapped her hand vice-like around Naruto's forearm, pulling him behind her while applying the Touchstone seal.

Then, slowly, Shikako raised her eyes to be level with the Missing nins chest – her eyes caught on the red clouds, _stark_ against the black background.

"Hello, Naruto."

 _Well, fuck._

* * *

Swallowing, Shikako tried to think of some plan of action that would save them both…

She considered, for a moment, flaring her chakra… but while that _might_ bring Jiraiya, would _definitely_ draw Sasuke… she could feel his signature fluttering to and fro _even now_ searching for the Toad Sage.

Naruto wasn't in immediate danger – the Recall Seal _works_ … Even if it might not take him all the way, it won't hurt him, and the trajectory couldn't be tracked.

That knowledge steadies her.

Naruto is _safe_.

She can pull him from this danger in an instant, and that thought returns some functionality to her fear drenched mind.

'Plan,' she commanded her brain, 'get Jiraiya's attention exclusively.'

Someone appeared behind them, blocking their escape.

Though Shikako doesn't turn to look, she can tell some things about their second assailant; and tapped a code into Naruto's wrist, so that he stood at her back. She heard him draw a kunai with his free hand, and pressed her lips together – knowing it would be worse than useless against this foe.

He is not as big a threat as the one before her, but that says very little for their chances – especially since _he_ had no reason to hold back. His chakra reserves were _enormous,_ vast as the sea. Kisame, worn memory supplied. Of the Seven Swordsmen, she knew his reputation from the Bingo Books… his sword Samehada was probably his best asset as a Jinchuuriki hunter – she can feel its cold hunger even now.

Shikako forced her eyes a little further up, resting them finally on a simple three looped necklace. It was _too high,_ too close to those deadly Sharingan eyes; in the periphery of her focus she could see the flat line of his mouth, the end of his nose. She could barely breathe at the thought of what he might be able do to her with his Mangekyō eyes, but she couldn't afford to ignore his arms.

Not that it would matter, if he chose to engage in combat with them.

By all rights they should be dead already, would be – if Itachi really was the traitor everyone thought he was.

Shikako didn't have a cat in hell's chance of walking away from this confrontation, unless Itachi _chose_ to spare her.

Which he might… they weren't dead yet, after all. That had to count for something.

Not much, admittedly – this _was_ after all, the man who murdered his entire family, bar one, under orders.

However distasteful he might find the murder of children, and however pacifistic his natural tendencies – Shikako knew that he would not hesitate to kill either herself or Naruto, should the necessity arise.

But he didn't _want_ to kill them… he did want _something_ though...

Maybe if Shikako could figure it out, she might walk out of here alive.

In the awkward silence that prevailed, Shikako carefully tapped out another directive against Naruto's skin.

Directions first, then the condensed patterns for 'search' and 'covert' and finally Ram, Serpent, Tiger – the hand seals for Kage Bunshin.

That done, Shikako released his arm – and though she didn't reach for any of her various pouches, they hovered ready.

She needed to distract them from the blond to have any chance of the plan working. No easy feat given that she is the extra _,_ the _annoyance_ in this scenario.

This was probably the most danger she had realistically been in since the Kyuubi attack.

"Naruto. You're coming with us." It wasn't threatening or commanding. Itachi didn't need to be. He just said it softly, an undeniable statement of fact.

"What do you want with Naruto?" Shikako returned in her best attempt at similarly even tone.

It was late afternoon, so there was shadow enough to work with – supposing she could even catch them. For Itachi that was an impossible dream, and while with Kisame it _might_ be possible to snare him, she certainly couldn't hold him for long. His chakra was like a tsunami, eagerly awaiting the moment it could crash down upon them.

"Our mission is to capture the Nine Tailed Fox," Itachi replied, perfectly smoothly. Shikako let her head tilt, she had honestly not expected him to answer.

Very obviously and slowly, the shadows beneath hers and Naruto's feet turned dark as ink. A circle perfect darkness extending a foot around them. The Jutsu was as yet unattached to anyone; so it was a relatively low chakra statement piece.

From what she could see of Itachi's face (too much), he didn't seem overly concerned, but when Kisame chuckled Shikako allowed herself to bristle, to appear unnerved by him and flash her teeth; like any cornered animal. The parameter of the circle changed. Rose like mist under her clumsy direction.

To any of her Clan, the lack of skill the move displayed would have been obvious.

It was a weak attempt at mimicking the three dimensional Jutsu her father had banned her from practising. But the insubstantial dome of shade probably looked interesting to non-Clan members – if the way Itachi's chin tilted slightly was any indication.

Naruto, thankfully, saw it for the diversion was - and soundlessly a dozen fragments of his chakra slipped away as insects on the breeze, not a sound or whiff of smoke to betray them.

"For what purpose?" Shikako stalled, and she thought that the set of his mouth tilted up very slightly. Was he amused by her blatant delaying tactics, her pathetic attempts to threaten S-Rank Missing-nin, or the clone trick? She couldn't imagine that he'd missed it... was he going to play the game?

"I cannot tell you that."

Apparently, yes.

Shikako turned away from that unproductive line of questioning, and dropped the shadow-mist until all that remained was the thinnest boarder just above the ground, and focused on forming a seal under the back even as she asked. "Just the Kyuubi?"

It was risky to ask, risky to speak, risky to keep silent... she might raise suspicions, or make herself an irritant but... she needed _time_.

'Come on Jiraiya...' she begged, stretching out with her senses. But he was still too _elusive_ , and Sasuke was still _too close._ Fast moving Naruto's flickered around, searching the local area at speeds which indicated that they had returned to their most natural shape.

The corners of Itachi's lips might have lifted fractionally. "Clever. You are correct, we are also after the other Bijuu."

The panic had both dulled and sharpened Shikako's world.

Beyond the ally, the entire universe was Monet: a blur of indistinct colour and shape. Within, she could feel every move, every breath, and twitch, and hair lifted in the breeze.

The slight tremor of Naruto's shoulders as they pressed against hers.

She hoped he could contain himself; Kisame would likely not be as impressed by Naruto's gumption as Ibiki had been.

"We? How many of you are there?" This was an informational goldmine, Shikako hoped Naruto was taking notes – as the one guaranteed to survive, he had a duty to pass on this intel.

From behind, Kisame shuffled, and the deliberate sound of rustling cloth was almost unbearably loud. "Come on, Itachi. There's no need to play nice with her."

"To be able to deduce so much from so little," Itachi mused.

"Uniform implies an organisation," she informs his necklace dully "implies hierarchy… though I can't think of anyone powerful enough to command _you_ to take missions..."

Shikako saw the lines of his face become level and smooth again, and wondered if she has overreached herself.

"Among the 9 members of the Akatsuki," He began, "there are those who can best me as easily as I did your sensei."

"Akatsuki," She echoed, unable to disguise the fear she felt at that observation. She might not even have believed it, if she didn't Remember Madara... Pein. "The red dawn." In both this life and the last, a red sky at morning was a bad omen…

"If you're a member, I'm surprised that everyone doesn't know that name."

Not flattery so much as cold hard truth. An organisation of S-Ranked Missing-Nin should have been infamous.

The fact that they weren't was terrifying.

"In time," Itachi said. "In time they will."

 _Ominous._

Shikako scanned the outside world as she tried to process what that meant, and promptly froze. A Naruto-fragment was coming back, accompanied by Sasuke.

 **No.**

 _'Where are you, Jiraiya?_ **Please!'**

Thoughtlessly her eyes began to rise in horror, but when she saw the red of Itachi's eyes, they dropped with a shuddered breath.

"What kind of goal could unite such individuals?" She forced out, throat almost too tight to form the words.

"Peace." He said, and though his voice was utterly unchanged, the Nara thought he seemed to convey that word in a sardonic, derisive way.

* * *

Predictably, it was at that point that Sasuke arrived; and it seemed that Shikako was correct in her worry that his reason would be overcome by a need for vengeance.

From her position Shikako could see him (and a very guilty looking Naruto Shadow Clone) standing behind Itachi, but only for a second - far longer than she could strictly afford to take eyes off the older Uchiha.

Then he spoke up after an elongated second of unnatural stillness, and his voice was thick with anger and hatred.

 **"Itachi."**

Real terror came back then, the kind that steals away every other thought - drowns every other feeling.

If Itachi was alone, maybe she wouldn't be so afraid; but with Kisame watching, he'd have to keep his cover.

Shikako knew Itachi would never kill Sasuke, but she knew with just as much certainty that he was _all too willing_ to hurt him.

Shikako was numb with indecision. She could activate the seal and save Naruto... but what would the Akatsuki members do when he was gone? That was a much more pressing question with Sasuke here to share the consequences.

Itachi didn't move, didn't turn around. "Sasuke. It's been a long time."

He didn't do anything as plebeian grit his teeth, or purse his lips... but something about his face was suddenly different – an artificial smoothness was now present.

Oil over restless waters.

And then of course Kisame would have to speak up, to stir the festering cesspool that was Itachi and Sasuke's history.

There no way for him to _not know_ that Sasuke was the sole survivor of that terrible night – the actions of Uchiha Itachi are known to the entirety of the elemental nations.

An S-Rank other S-Ranks avoid – the horror story that frightens even veteran ninja.

Was the shark-man really spoiling for a fight _so much_ that he would instigate a fight between an S-Rank Missing-nin and a Genin?

She didn't know what to do, but she knew what Sasuke was going to do. It was stupid to the point of insanity, but really… there weren't any actions left that were _actually good_.

Just like in the Forest of Death.

Action and inaction were equally useless, equally suicidal.

It wasn't indecision that held her captive in those fractions of a second, but rather the certain knowledge that things were about to go very wrong.

Then Sasuke acted, and Naruto exploded into a thousand moving pieces in solidarity; Shikako had no choice but to follow suit.

Seals, Shikako realised in that instant, did not automatically duplicate their effects just because their canvas had done so… It might have, if she integrated it into his chakra system, but its influence enclosed only that single true body.

Shikako closed her eyes and let the shadow fall away to reveal the network of Flash Bang Touch Seals beneath her feet and apologised silently to Naruto.

Sasuke was talking, some feet ahead, but all she could hear was the sudden cursing and retreat of Kisame. Really Shikako thought he was being dramatic – if it really was one enormous explosive seal, _she wouldn't be standing on it_ ; and she certainly wouldn't risk her boys being anywhere near it.

Shikako jumped up into the air, straight up as high as she could as Sasuke destroyed the structural integrity of the building to her right; using friction to build up the charge and power of his one-hit assassination Jutsu.

When Shikako twisted her fingers into the activation hand seal, she murmured 'Fuinjutsu Style: Recall' even as the world exploded into a riot of light and sound. She'd only had time to field test up to 50 metres, and for short distances there were no additional energy requirements once the seal was set – but Shikako really couldn't afford to take any chances with Naruto, so she shunted three quarters of her remaining reserves down the open connection between herself and the seal.

Shikako was still airborne when she felt Sasuke's Chidori die out – though she couldn't hear it over the continuous eruptions of sound from her former position.

When she inevitably started to come down, Shikako (keeping her eyes closed against the glare of her own seals) twisted her body and pushed with her chakra until she came down hard upon the roof of the left hand building. As the seals were still going off, and no one seemed to her pursued her so far, Shikako decided to make absolutely certain that their plight would not missed - no matter how far Jiraiya had gone.

The Touch Blast pressed into the kunai was a real explosion this time, and its detonation roared as far above that heads as Shikako could throw the projectile.

Which was pretty high, especially when factoring in chakra enhancement.

She tried, mostly in vain, to track the progression of Naruto across the space been her and Kakashi-sensei. Her seals deceived her senses as much as anyone else's. She did get the sense of completeness before the thread of awareness died out; so there was room for hope.

The flashes of light from the seal were violent enough that they pulsed red and painful even through her closed eyelids, and Shikako couldn't go back into the alley until they stopped. Thankfully, the attack left her chakra sensory perception largely unmolested.

It was almost impossible to notice the sudden loss of _one_ Naruto in the multitude, even before factoring in her own bombardment on the senses.

 _Shikako desperately hoped it would work._

Her distraction was _almost_ deafening, but Shikako had been _careful_.

Light without heat, and concussive blasts that wouldn't perforate eardrums or tear apart insides – that was the hard part. Making sure they went off one at a time in rapid succession, like the world's most unpleasantly jarring seizure-inducing club scene; rather than one large burst of sound and light that would be almost as dangerous as a real explosive seal.

This plan had a number of advantages.

There was now simply _no way_ Jiraiya was unaware of their location.

No one seemed to be aware of the original Naruto's disappearance.

Hopefully this diversion would also bring a net advantage to herself and her remaining teammate, because Sasuke was used to having explosions go off in his face by now, and therefore had experience in fighting half-blind for the paltry seconds it took for his special-snowflake eyes to readjust.

As soon as the seal spent itself, Shikako loosed a handful of lightning Senbon at Kisame, before directing her attention to the Uchiha – ostensibly this was to help the dwindling and half-blind mass of Naruto's; but was also because she had played too much Pokémon as a child in another life, and that part of her brain insisted that she should have a serious type advantage with that move…

Shikako opened her eyes to find that she had affected Itachi and Sasuke's 'fight' _not at all._ Somehow her thirty seconds, unimaginably long in a ninja fight, of violent distraction had done nothing to so to even _slow down_ the older Uchiha.

Sasuke wasn't using chakra, which could only mean that he was no longer able to – either pain, exhaustion or unconsciousness would be to blame… and he wasn't exhausted...

Shikako jumped down from the building, and even before she hit the floor, she was performing the hand seals for replacement.

Because despite the gleaming white spots obstructing her vision, Shikako could see very clearly what was happening - what was _going to happen._

Itachi's body blocked his brother from Shikako's sight, but she could still _feel_ him – the chaotic tumble of his chakra indicated in pain, rather than unconscious. Through the ringing in her ears, Shikako thought she might be able to hear the pained noises coming from him.

She could feel Itachi too, the power gathering at two points of burning focus within his skull.

The sudden transition was jarring, and Shikako's final, desperate plan fell apart.

She thought, hoped, she'd have time to plant one last Touch Blast, perhaps just on his sleeve; enough to drive him back. Just a little more time she could use to protect Sasuke's until Jiraiya turned up…

But it didn't work out that way.

She had switched their positions _exactly_.

Out of the corner of her eyes Shikako could see Sasuke stumble and fall; not expecting for there to be empty space under his feet, and in too much pain to compensate for the change without warning.

Sasuke had been looking his brother directly in the eyes.

* * *

Shikako tried to move, to lash out, _to do anything_ – but the attack was already set, and Itachi's Mangekyō opened wide and _pulled_ ; drew her inside of its blood and black depths.

She screamed.

Mostly it wasn't even from the pain, though the addition of his chakra to her system really did _hurt_ , in large part it was simply the shock.

Shikako had never experienced a Genjutsu she could not break

She had severely underestimated the Sharingan's power because of that.

The blazing agony of the Tsukuyomi slid through her chakra network like hot oil. Slick and black it eluded her attempts to contain and expel it. She tried everything she could think of to disperse it - pushing it away, transforming the nature her chakra, spinning it like she was performing the reinforcement technique.

It didn't help.

Every move served only spread it further, only smeared it in _deeper_.

Shikako's entire system was awash with it in almost instantaneously, and she couldn't keep from choking on the tainted bitterness of it.

The chakra pathways of her eyes burned with the strain of the onslaught and Shikako wondered if they might collapse. Wondered if that might be preferable to _this_ \- drowning in oil set ablaze.

But they didn't, her near-religious commitment to her prescribed Iryō Ninjutsu preserved their integrity.

The burning lessened, sight returned – and then it was _so much_ **worse**.

A red sky bled across her sight, with black clouds and a hateful grey-brown disk that glared down darkness across the forming landscape. Vaguely familiar buildings were turned completely alien by the inhuman perception forced upon her mind – white-darkness stark against black-light. Too sharp and overexposed to be real.

She _ached_ from the excess clarity, but all attempts to block it out failed. Because it wasn't her eyes that ached, it was her mind.

All of this was _in here_ **with her.**

She couldn't get it out, couldn't get away.

This wasn't subtle hint, or sly suggestion like all the other Genjutsu she'd ever felt... it didn't try to deceive the senses - it _overtook_ them. With brute strength it held on and **forced** her see what her own eyes _never could_.

Reality is perception, and Itachi has created this new reality to impose upon his victim.

"In the world of Tsukuyomi, time and space are mine to command."

The whole world wavered, and reformed until Shikako was in a dojo. There were two people kneeling on the ground. And Itachi was there; a study in warped light and shadow. He was geared in ANBU armour, sword held ready.

He was haunting, covered in so much bleached-white shadow that Shikako thought she could finally understood how white would be considered a colour of evil...

Shikako whimpered pleas and denials; tried to turn away. But the world moved too, rotating with her like she was the sun. She ran, but the ground refused move under beneath her feet. She couldn't block out the black glint of the blade that took the lives of Sasuke's parents, or the feeling of their blood soaking into her skin – _warm_ but rapidly cooling.

Covering her ears didn't muffle the sound of an entire clan dying on _e by one._

The fact that this was all in her head _didn't make it_ _any less_ **real** ** _._**

Itachi was in here with her, and he was _real_. Everything she saw was real – because it _happened_. It happened to the entire Uchiha clan years ago: and now or happening to her.

The worst night of Sasuke's life resurrected for the sole purpose of 'motivating' him.

"To test the limits of my ability…"

As she was dragged through the clan compound, Shikako tried to fight. Tried to use her chakra, Jutsu, _seals_.

 _Nothing worked._

Shikako's entire being was smothered by Itachi's power, and her chakra was no exception.

She watched powerless as Itachi cut down a young mother and infant child with a single blow, and wanted to be sick. She cried and screamed, clawing at her wrists first - to dispel the Genjutsu with pain.

When that failed, and an old man stepped bravely in front of his wife, she went for her eyes and ears and _throat_.

She lacked even the power to hurt herself this place; and even _through_ her frantically gouging fingers, she saw **everything**.

She didn't _even know_ these people, and she wanted to **die** rather than see this.

What would it have been like for Sasuke?

To witness this. To see his family die _again_? The people loved, cut down brutally by the person he loved the most…

This torture had been intended for him.

There were over three hundred people in the Uchiha clan. Ninja. Civilians. Elderly. Children. Babies.

All **dead.**

Shikako still fought as the night drew to a close, but it was a weak exhausted thing; feeble twitching punctuated by broken cringing sobs.

"If you wish to kill me, despise me. Foster your hatred. By all means, flee. Cling to your wretched life…"

Then.

The whole world wavered, and reformed until Shikako was in a dojo. There were two people kneeling on the ground. And Itachi was there, a study in warped light and shadow. He was geared in ANBU armour, sword held ready.

"Seventy one hours, fifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds left…"

"Oh, god _, no."_

By the sixteenth revolution, Shikako had stopped trying to use chakra to disrupt the Jutsu.

Forty-three cycles later she had ceased her attempts physically intervene: the fates of these people were utterly unchangeable by any means available to Shikako.

One-hundred and eighty-two mass homicides after that, Shikako is on her knees in a dojo again, and she _finally_ _understands_ the true torture of the Tsukuyomi.

She watched three-hundred and seventy-one people die two-hundred and forty-one times: and she remembered each as a separate night. Identical but distinct in her memory. Memory that is as sharp and painful as the scene that plays out before her now. Perfect recall imposed upon her as if she had a Sharingan of her own to observe it with.

After a further one-hundred and twelve repetitions, Shikako finally accepted that she could not take her own life.

She had witnessed the murder of the entire Uchiha Clan five-hundred and thirty-six times when she accepts the equal futility of trying to goad Itachi into killing her – finally stopped trying to throw herself on his blade

For the eight-hundred and sixty-first time Shikako watched the trusting overlarge eyes of a five-year-old girl turn to gaze up at Itachi, hands still waving a rattle in the face of her infant brother. Shikako sobbed, but could no longer scream.

Six-thousand-four-hundred-and-thirty-three massacres have taken place and Shikako is motionless as the world deposits her once again in that dojo. By now, even the tears have stopped.

"Eighteen hours and forty-six minutes to go." Itachi informed her solemnly, raising his blade for the one-hundred-ninety-two-thousand-seven-hundred and thirteenth time, but Shikako's mind was no longer capable of processing the information the Tsukuyomi imposed upon it.

Shikako watched the Uchiha massacre two-hundred-fifty-nine-thousand-and-two hundred times before the technique finally released her mind and chakra.

As oblivion overtakes her, she cannot tell the difference.

* * *

Notes: So um... I think that's what the Tsukuyomi would be like... basically it sucks - _a lot._

On a side note, when I read DOS at this point in the story, I imagined a thousand things about what happened between Shikako succumbing to the Mangekyō and waking back in Konoha; and I've done the same here. If there's enough interest, I'll write them up and pop them in the bottom of the next chapter like I did with Dona's ficlet.

Thanks for reading, please comment... I am worried that it got _perhaps a touch_ dark right at the end there... so feedback would be great.


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